^>,W^% s^/^j&v ^ y :'^'^^k^\' J^ 






m 



->^^* -\'^ ^ 



<f: 







v;>. 



,^^ 










o 



-^^0^ 

.•^q 



<<> 






'>#&;/ ^^o' 'S. ''>^ 













,, ^ ^"^ 

.s^^ - 



.0' 



-^_ 



•■/..••<% 















?^'- ^^ 0^ 



^' ^^^ 



r-^^. 






.■^^. 






•^AO^ 



■ ^^ . \ ■ 
0° .'.:^:;'< °o 












'(^v- 



?>^'^^, 



\. 



w*^ 






Xl. ' 












>^ *»-o' ^V °^ 



.'\' 






^^" : 



-:C 



.<^' 






.^' . 










'. % a: 







^^-V- 






'^\ %,^ .^J^;^ ^.^ ^1 












'^O' 









I 







'• "''^ A^" -V^%^/^:h 'V ..'b^ 









^ ^.. ^-^"^ />?/^^^ 



\s 



"-o 



•V 



•,^ 



/•/« 



1^ M 



THE WAE, AND ITS MOEAL: 



CANADIAN CHRONICLE. 



BT 



WILLIAM P. COFFIN, Esquire, 

FOSMERLT SHEBIPF OF THE DISXEICT OP MOOTEEAL, LIEUT-COLONET, stap. . 
OBDNAWCB BSTATB8, OAKADA. 



PRINTED BY JOHN LOYELL, ST." NICHOLAS STREET. 
1864. 



Entered, according to the Act of the Provincial Parliament, in the year 
one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, by William F. 
Coffin, in the Office of the Registrar of the Province of Canada. 



4^. 



^0 tl^e i^igi^t J^ottourable 



^ir €bmuii:ir ®alkr ^tab, '§nxontt, 



Hi lllaJEstg's posi '§ommnbk Iribg Council, 



IntJ late ffiobemor ©cncral anti CommantJcrnn^CTIjicf 'of Britislj Wortfj America, 



©his (filHttiwtiM (!i;itV0tttd« 0t i)xt %^M at I8I2 



Es respcctfullp Brticatrt, fig Ijis faitfjful anU grateful Strfaant, 



WILLIAM F. COFFIN. 



Ottawa, 2nd January, 1864, 



TO THE RIGHT. HONORABLE 
SIR EDMUND WALKER HEAD, BARONET. 

My dear Sir, — I venture to appeal to your respected 
name as the best introduction for the little work which 
I do myself the honour to dedicate to you. To you, 
indeed, it owes its existence. You conferred upon me 
the appointment I have the honour to hold under the 
Crown in Canada, and that appointment has given life 
to an idea, long cherished in embryo. 

The management of the Ordnance Lands in this 
Province has thrown me upon the scenes of the most 
notable events of the late war. It has brought me in 
contact with many of the surviving actors. It has 
revived early recollections of my own. 

The achievements of 1812 were the household words 
of my childish days. For three years, I grew up among 
the men, and almost, among the incidents of the time. 
In the Spring of 1815, from the Grand Battery at 
Quebec, I had watched the slow cavalcade which bore 
Sir George Prevost across the ice of the St. Lawrence, 
on his return to England. 

Fifteen years afterwards brought me back to a coun- 
try which, for thirty-three years, has been my home. 
During this long interval, the subject of the war has 
never ceased to be one of great interest. It has led 
to many enquiries, and to a gradual accumulation of 
material, which might have seen light earlier, had I 



VI DEDICATION. 



not been daunted by a wholesome precept of my Eng- 
lish schooling : 

Si quantum cuperem, possem quoque. Non meus audet, 
Rem tentare pudor, quam vires ferre recusent. 

That I do so now, must be ascribed, in great part, to 
the liberality of my Publisher; in some degree to the 
pressure of a belief that, under the circumstances of the 
times, the effort had become a duty; and still more, 
to the opportunity and incentive you had made. 

Permit me therefore, "si tarn jparmim carmen, majestcis 
recipit tua,'' to offer to you, in your honourable retire- 
ment, this mark of respectful homage. Canada owes to 
you a deep debt of gratitude. The revival of the 
military spirit of the countr}^ ig due to your fostering 
hand. At your touch the Volunteer force sprang into 
life. The spirit you infused is inextinguishable. Your 
parting words will never be forgotten. As a member 
of that force, " quorum 'pars jpai'va fui,^' I offer this 
humble tribute to your talents, your patriotism, and to 
your manly, English, independence of character, and 
have the honour to subscribe myself, 

My dear Sir, 

With regard and gratitude, 

Your faithful servant, 

WILLIAM F. COFFIN. 

Ottawa, 2nd January, 1864. 



Works consulted and documents furnished — chiefly hy personal 

friends — which have contributed to this Chronicle 

of War of 1^,12, 



Alison History of Europe. 

James Military occurrences of the 

War. 

James Naval History. 

Christie History of Lower Canada. 

Auchinlech . . . History of tlie War. 

Armstrong .. .Notices of the War of 1812. 

Tapper Life of Brock, and Corres. 

Stone Life of Brant. 

Neff. Army and Navy of America. 

Schoolcraft.. .Indian Tribes 

Garneau History of Canada. 

Bibaud.. Histoire du Canada. 



Croil Dundaa, a sketch of Canadian 

History. 
Mansfield .... Life of Gen. Scott. 

Clifford History of the War of French 

Revolution. 

Sabine American Loyalists, 

Veritas Letters of 1815. 

Answer to Veritas. .The Canadian Inspector. 
Pontiac Conspiracy of. 

Goodrich History of the United States— 

P. Parley. 

Greig History of Montreal. 

Bouchette Topography. 

Morgan Celebrated Canadians. 

Montreal Herald, 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814. 



Manuscripts^ Memoranda of: 



Major General Thomas Evans. 
James Eichardson, D.D. 
Col. Sir Etienne Tach^. 
Colonel John Clarke, St. Catherines. 
Judge Jarvis, Cornwall. 
Colonel McLean, Scarborough. 
Squire Reynolds, Amherstburg. 
Seijeant Andrew Spearman. 



Manuscript Memoir of Sir George Prevost. 
Journal of General and Governor Simcoe. 
Report, Loyal and Patriotic Society, 1817. 
Report of Commissioners of Indian Affairs. 
Letter of Philalethes in the United Service 

Journal, 1848. 
Review of Tupper's Life of Brock, in the 

same. 



The Author tenders his thanks to the Hon. Pierre J. 0. Chauveau, Superin- 
tendent of Education, L. C, for access to the valuable collection of Books 
and Documents relating to Canadian History, to be found in the Library of 
the Jacques Gartier Normal School, Montreal. 



JIRRATA. 
P. 48, line 24, for •' Howard," read " Heward." 
P. 62, line 1, for " Howard," read " Heward." 
P. 29, line 18, for "Admiral Humphreys," read "Admiral Berkeley." 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

FAGS 

Preamble ^^ 



CHAPTER II. 

1812-Duration of the War— Feeling in Canada. The War no Canadian quarrel. Value 
of Canada to England at that crisis. The feeling between the British and American 
people. British pretensions— Right of Search— Resisted by the Danes— The northern 
powers— The Americans. British dUemma. Blockade of 1806. Berlin and Milan 
Decrees. Orders in Council. Constructive Blockade. French and American in- . 
consistency. Troubles of neutrals. Affair of the Leopard and Chesapeake, 1807. 
American exacerbation. British exclusion from American harbours. American 
gratitude to France. French sympathy in Canada a mistake. The Eastern States 
averse to the War. Affair of the President and Little Belt, 1811. Irritation in- 
creases. President of United States appeals to Congress, War declared 18th June, 
1812. Futile attempt to capture British West India fleet. British disbelief in a war. 21 



CHAPTER m. 

state of Canada at the outbreak of the war. MUitary force — Attitude of the people. 
Avatar of Brock— His character and early q^reer— Letter from Montreal, 1808— Takes 
command of troops in Upper Canada, 1810— Becomes Lieutenant-Governor, 1811. 
Hull invades Canada, 12th July. Proclamation— Brock's reply— Meets Parliament. 
Spirit of the country. United Empire Loyalists. Proctor at Amherstburg, 4th 
August— Detaches Tecumseh— Defeats Van Home. On 7th August, Hull retires 
fi-om Canada. Affair at Magagua. Capture of Michilimacinac, by Capt. Roberts 
and Toussaint Pothier. Brock with York Volunteers reaches Amherstburg. Inter- 
view with Tecumseh. Capture of Detroit, 16th August, 1812 35 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

FA6S 

Brock provides for the safety of his conquest and returns to York— Urgent for action- 
Controlled by an armistice between Sir George I'revost and General Dearborn. 
Sir George at Quebec. Energy of the Lower Canada Legislature— Provide money 
— Provide men. The Americans threaten Montreal — Niagara. Detroit. Inroad 
at Gananoque. Affair at Ogdensburg. Brock returns to the Niagara frontier. 
Van Kenselaer and the Militia— Crazy for a dash. Capture of the Detroit and 
Caledonia off Fort Erie. Military ardour of the New York Volunteers uncontrol- 
lable. Van Eenselaer resolves to cross the Niagara frontier. Queenston Heights. 
Battle 13th October— Death of Brock and Macdonald— Arrival of Sheafife— Final 
victory — Surrender by Scott. John Beverley Eobinson. Brock's funeral. Scott 
and the savages 50 

CHAPTER V. 

Armistice between Sheaffe and Van Kenselaer. Eastern frontier— Affair at St. Kegis. 
" Capture of a stand of colors "— Eetaliation. Hard frost below— Pleasant weather 
west. American squadron and Commodore Earle. Gallant exploit of the Canadian 
schooner Simcoc. Chauncey and Captain Brock. Armistice between Smyth and 
Sheaffe terminated. Descent on Canadian frontier. Americans repulsed. Fort 
Erie summoned. Bishop won't give up. Smyth retires into winter quarters, and 
goes south. United States disunited on the war— Canada unanimous. Sufferings 
and spirit of the people. Loyal and Patriotic Society 65 



CHAPTER VI. 

Naval occurrences of the war. Supremacy of England on the ocean. Indifference to 
foreign progress. American frigates- Unrivalled in construction— Speed — Equip- 
ment—Power. Naval duels. The Constitution and Guerrierc. The Frolic and 
Wasp. The United States and Macedonian. The Java and Constitution. Effect 
of these contests. Exultation of Europe. England nerved and steeled. The Hornet 
and Peacock. Counter-stroke. Shannon and Chesapeake. Moral effect. The 
balance redressed. Gallantry on both sides. Effect of these events on the war in 
Canada 75 



CHAPTER VII. 

1813. American preparations on Lakes Ontario and Eric. British Ministry did its best 
— Canada its duty. Men and money voted. Now Brunswick regiment marched 
from Fredcricton on snow shoos. Major General Evans. Sir J«uie8 Yeo and seamen 



CONTENTS. XI 

PAGE 

• arrive from Halifax. British and American forces on the frontier. In the West. 
Harrison and Proctor. General Winchester defeated and captured at French 
town. Capt. Forsyth harries Brockville. Reprisals. Sir George Prevost at Pres- 
cott. Permits a demonstration. Prescott. Ogdensburg. Colonel George Mac- 
donneU.» The Glengarries. Bishop MacdonneU. Dash at Ogdensburg— Dangers 
of the ice-The place taken. Capt. Jenkins and Lieut. Kidge. Pierre Holmes. His 
story. Macdonnell's courage, courtesy, and kindness 84 

CHAPTER VIII. 

British armaments at Kingston and York. British force. American strength. De- 
scent planned on Kingston. York and Fort George. Little York-What it was 
-What it is. Qefences in 1813. York attacked 26th April, 1813. Ship of war 
on the stocks, on British order. First alarm. Pluck of the population. Maclean, 
clerji of the House of Assembly, killed. Young Allan MacNab. Sir Eoger Sheaffe. 97 

CHAPTER IX. 

Sheaffe. Force at his disposal. His dispositions. MacNeil of the 8th. American 
approach-Disembark in Humber Bay-Gallant resistance-Slaughter of the Grena- 
diers. Pike lands-Presses on the towiv-Enters the old fort-Explosion-Destruc- 
tion of friend and foe. Pike killed. Sheaffe retires. The place capitulates. 
American Vandalism. Bishop Strachan. His admirable letter. The farce which 
follows the tragedy. The " human scalp " turns out to be a perriwig 106 

CHAPTER X. 

American programme. Modification. Fall of York. Newark threatened. Descrip- 
tion of Newark. Fort Niagara. Fort George. Climate and country. La SaUe. 
Sketch of his exploits. Discovers the Mississippi. Fort George burnt. Kebuilt 
by Denonville. Colonel Dongan, Governor of the Province of New York, objects 
to the buUding of a Fort at " Ohniagro." Baron de Longueuil— Record of this 
family. Fort Niagara taken by the British, 1759. Surrendered to United States, 
1796. Upper Canada created a separate Province, 1791. Governor Simcoe. His 
career. Newark his capital. Visit of Duke of Kent, 1793. Compared with that 
of Prince of Wales, 1860 ^^ 

CHAPTER XI. 

Seat of Government removed from Newark to York. Fort George still Military Head- 
Quarters. American attack on Fort George and Newark. General Vincent in 
command. American forces. British strength. American force on landing. 
British retire. Fort George falls. Vincent occupies Beaver Dam. Description-.. . 124 



XII CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XII. 

PAGE 

Lake Ontario. Kingston. Sackett's Harbour. Expectations and preparations. Dr. 
Richardson, D.D.— His Career and Record. Doparturo of Squadron. * Sights 
Sackett's Harbour and withdraws. Capture of American Officer of Dragoons. 
The Expedition retires— Preparations for landing. Preparations for resistance. 
General Jacob Brown. Colonel Baccus. Landing effected. Americans defeated — 
fire the stores and ships on the stocks. The British ordered to retreat. Withdrawal 
Of the Expedition 130 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Return to "Vincent at the Beaver Dam— Retires on Burlington Heights— Colonel 
Harvey — Stoney Creek — British retire from, and the Americans occupy their posi- 
tion — Harvey's plan for night attack — The Americans surprised — Desperate fighting 
— Americans dispersed — Generals Chandler and Winder taken prisoners— Present 
aspect ol the ground — Old Lutheran Chapel — Burial place of the slain — No 
memorial stone — Why not ? Americans fall back on Niagara— Abandon camps 
and supplies 140 



CHAPTER XIV. 



New American Enterprise. Attempt on the Beaver Dam Post Noble devotion of 
Mrs. Secord. Her Adventures— Roaches Decau's house in safety. Fitzgibbon. 
Boerstler'8 Advance— Attacked by the Indians— Reaches Thorold. Present aspect 
of Thorold. Welland Canal. Hamilton Merritt. Col. John Clarke. Old Isaac 
Kelly— Militia attack on Boerstler— He surrenders to Fitzgibbon. Mary Secord the 
real Heroine. I'rincely generosity of the Prince of Wales. Lieut. Fitzgibbon — 
His career— A Military Knight of Windsor. History of the Kuights. A Reverie. . 146 



CHAPTER XV. 



General do Rottenburg succeeds General Vincent— Dearborn retires — Boyd in com- 
mand at Fort George— American Frontier exposed to attack— Colonels Bishopp 
and Clark— Clark's career- Hazardous and successful foray on Fort Schlosser— 
Bishopp, emulous of gallant deeds, attacks Black Rock— Bbick Rock, now and 
then— Bishopp lands— Defeats the enemy— Captures the place— General Porter 
rallies tho Americans- Tlife British attacked in turn- Bishopp wounded to death 
— His wortliy career in Europe and Canada— Influence over the A'ohiuteers— The 
Americans enlist the Indians- Lake Ontario— Commodore Chauucey attacks Bur- 



CONTENTS. XUl 

PAGE 

lington Heights— Fails— Again sacks York. Sir James Yeo provokes the Com- 
modore out of Niagara— Two American schooners foundered— Two taken— More 
expected from Yeo very inconsiderately — Yeo did his duty thoughtfully and well 
— From Ontario to Lake Champlain — Escapade at Gore Creek on the St. Lawrence 
—Death of Capt. IVIilne — Supplies how furnished — How transported in winter and 
summer — Value of the Commissariat — Sir William Kobinson — Commissaries in 
Canada— Isaac Winslow Clarke- His career— Bateaux Brigades 158 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Montreal the centre of supply— Description of Montreal— View from top of the 
Mountain— Montreal of 1840 or 1864, not the Montreal of 1812— Montreal viewed as 
the Military Key of Canada— Country around— View of Beloeil— Canadian scenery 
—Canadian people— The Habitants, their progress, improvement and characteristics 
—Strong temptation to invasion— Approach to Montreal and the Richelieu country 
—Description of Lake Champlain— American force on the New York frontier avail- 
able for invasion I73 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Sir George Prevost and Sir James Craig- Sir James a good man but obdurate— Sir 
George politic and useful— He identifies himself with the people— They support him 
and British rule— The Legislature legalize the issue of army bills, and vote additiona. 
militia" forces— Exchequer Bills— Sir George prepares for defence— English Volun 
teers— French MiUtia— The two people incline to different systems of enrolment— 
Both readily unite against conmion enemy— Isle aux Noix— Attempt made to 
prise this post— Capture of American schooners Growler and Eagle— Reprisals- 
Officers and men of H. M. brig of war, Wasp, transferred to Lake Champlaiip— 
Plattsburg, Swanton, Champlain, destroyed— Burlington challenged— Blockade of 
the seaboard by the British— Increased American strength on the Lakes 181 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

stung by reverses the British Admiralty acted with vigour— Ships were equipped 
of a calibre to meet the Americans— Americans blockaded in their own harbours- 
Commerce destroyed, revenue ruined- Seamen useless on the ocean, transferred 
to the Lakes— Naval engagements— Dominica and Decatur— Pelican and Argus 
—Boxer and Enterprize— Cruise of the President under Commodore Rodgers— 
Detroit frontier— Unpleasant vicissitudes— Story of the Frontier- Squire Reynolds 
—His narrative— Early state of the Detroit Frontier— Building of Fort Miami— 
Who paid for it-Surrender of Michigan Territory and Detroit to Americans 
under Jay's Treaty 1796— British war vessels on the Upper Lakes allowed to rot- 
Brock's interview with the Indians— June 1812— First scalp taken by the American 
McCulloch— Indian exasperation— Resolution to retaliate — Declaration of war 
received 28th June, 1812-HCapture of the Cayuga Packet by Lieut. Rolette 192 



^ 



XIV CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

PAGE 

Squire Keynold's narrative — Arrival of Brock— Interview with Tecumseh — Affairs on 
the Frontier 1813— Ball at Maiden — From the dance to the field— Colonel St. 
George— Attack on French Town — Capture of General Winchester — Retreat of 
Proctor — Wounded abandoned — Rolette hit — Bl-ownstown and the scalps — Fort 
Meigs— British engineers— Colonel Gratiot — Major Reynolds at the Raisin — Defeat of 
Green Clay — Retaliation of the Indians — Retreat from Fort Meigs — Council of 
war — Recriminations — Proctor, Elliott, Tecumseh — Proctor's treatment of the 
Militia— Second attack on Fort Meigs— A failure— Fort Stevenson attacked— 
Bravely defended by Major Croghan— Col. Short killed— Stormers repulsed— Proc- 
tor retires — Barclay at Maiden — Efforts to equip squadron — No men nor material 
— The two 24's — Calibre and character of guns in the squadrons respectively 202 

CHAPTER XX. 

Captain Barclay and Commodore Perry — Resources of each— Perry's difficulty— Crosses 
the bar at Presqu'Isle— Description of Barclay's crew and armament — 10th Sep- 
tember—Battle of Lake Eric — Desperate contest — The Lawrence surrenders — 
Perry's personal exploits-Changes his ships— Renews the contest — The British 
squadron captured— OflScers all killed or wounded— The resistance of Barclay and 
his crews — Barclay's heroic character and conduct — Appearance before a Court 
martial— Honourably acquitted — Barclay's' defeat. Proctor's doom— Position of 
Proctor— Nature of country— Supplies exhausted — Alternative of retreat or sur- 
render— Rctroats—Liue of march— Difficulties— Followed by Harrison — Kentucky 
Mounted Riflemen— Tactics in the battle— Character of forest — Not impracticable 
to horsemen 215 

CHAPTE]^ XXI. 

Proctor falls back to Baptisto Creek- General Harrison with Perry's assistance 
follows— 5th October— British force halts at Dalson's Farm- Colonel Maclean of 
Scarborough— His reminiscences- Warburton in command at Dalson's— Proctor 
retires personally to Moravian Town— Roused before dayliglit— Intelligence— Troops 
attacked and retreating —Warburton followed by Shelby and Kentucky riflemen- 
Description of those troops and mode of attack— Proctor halts his men- Nature of 
ground and position — Tecumseh — His last words— No abattis made — American 
attack— Defeat and surrender of the British 223 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Tecumseh— His character— Origin— Tribo of the Shawanese— From Virginia— Driven 
into Oliio— Tlienco into Michigan— The Brothers Elksottawa and Tecumseh— In- 
fluence ol Tecumseh over Indian tribes, due to his personal qualities— Anecdotes 



CONTENTS. .• XV 

PAGE 

—Haughty conduct towards the "Long Knives"— His disinterestedness— Indian 
skill as draftsman — His personal appearance and costume — Stern adherence to 
England — Last words to Proctor— Attack of the American riflefhen — Tecumseh slain 
by the hand of Col. James Johnston — The four heraldic supporters of Canada — 
Outrage offered to his remains 232 



CHAPTER. XXIII. 



Battle of the Thames— Its effect^In the States— In Canada. Sir George Prevost. De- 
monstration on Niagara. Vincent concentrates at Burlington Heights. American 
projects on ifontreal. Generals 'Wilkinson and Hampton. Plan of attack from 
the West and from Lake Champlain. Hampton advances to Odelltown— Encoun- 
tered by De Salaberry—Ketires— Followed to the Four Corners. Career of De 
Salaberry — Attempts to surprise the Americans — Discovered— Falls back on the 
line of Chateauguay. Preparations for defence. Keports on * the battle by the 
American Adjutant-General King 239 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



story of Chateauguay. The " Temoin oculaire." Hampton advances from Four Cor- 
ners. De Salaberry faces right about, and returns to meet him. First rencontre 
—Halts— Throws up breastworks and abattis. Disposition of defenders— Ford 
in the rear. American attack on abattis— Impracticable. Attack on flank and rear, 
partially successful — Kepulsed — Broken by flank fire. Eetreating Americans fire 
on each other. Hampton, daunted, withdraws from front of abattis and retreats. 
Force engaged. Brilliant conduct of officers and men. Honour to De Salaberry,. . 262 



CHAPTER XXV. 



Macdonell of Ogdensburg— The Canadian Fencibles— Descent of the St. Lawrence 
Running the Eapids— Night March through the Bush— "Always on Hand" — 
French and English "Shoulder to Shoulder "—Natural Exultation of the French 
Canadians — Practical Keply to Dishonouring Imputations— Gratitude of the British 
Government — Queenston Heights — Chateauguay — Chevy Chace and the " Combat 
des Trentes "— Beaiunanoir and Bembro — Croquart 262 



^^ CONTENTS. 



A^PPENBIX. 



Letter to Thomas Jefferson, ex-President of the United States 
BataUle de Chateauguay, 



Page 
of America, 273 



THE WAR AND ITS MORAL. 



CHAPTER I. 

Preamble. 

jL(3±^ — like the characters on the labarum of Constantine * — is 
a sign of solemn import to the people of Canada. It carries with 
it the virtue of an incantation. Like the magic numerals of the 
Arabian sage, these words, in their utterance, quicken the pulse, 
and vibrate through the frame, summoning, from the pregnant past, 
memories of suffering and endurance and of honorable exertion. 
They are inscribed on the banner and stamped on the hearts of the 
Canadian people — a watchword, rather than a war-cry. With 
these words upon his lips, the loyal Canadian, as a vigilant sen- 
tinel, looks forth into the gloom, ready with his challenge, hopeful 
for a friendly response, but prepared for any other. 

The people of Canada are proud of the men, and of the deeds, 
and of the recollections of those days. They feel that the war of 
1812 is an episode in the story of a young people, glorious in 
itself and full of promise. They believe that the infant which, 
in its very cradle, could strangle invasion, struggle, and endure, 
bravely and without repining — is capable of a nobler development, 
if God wills further trial. 

• Vide Gibbon, Vol. II, pp. 259, 260, 



-j^y CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

It is impossible for this people to ignore the portents of theljime. 
The blast of ^ar hurtles around them ; Its sights are in their eyes, ^ 
and the sounds in their ears. They feel that they are within the 
edge of the fatal circle, and await the stroke of the cyclone. It is 
natural that, at such a time, the popular mind should revert to the 
experience of the past, and that the war of 1812 should be con- 
stantly invoked as an example and as a warning. 

Thus, the story of the war has suddenly become a subject of 
interest'which it is difficult to satisfy. Fifty years have come and 
gone, and of the thousands who survived the contest, how few 
remain to tell the tale or pobt the moral! Within the last few 
months, three honoured men, heroes of 1812, and who emphati- 
cally deserve the title,— Sir Allan :MacNab, Sir John Beverley 
Robinson, and Major-Gcneral Evans,— have gone to their rest, full 
of years and well-earned distinction. The voices of those who could 
animate by eloquent experience, and giude by their coimsels, 
become daily, fewer, fainter, and more hidistinct ; and we turn with 
sorrowful respect from the livbg witnesses of the time, to those 
who bear record to the gallantry of their deeds and the nobleness 
of their motives. 

The story of the war has been told by eminent writers on both 
sides of the Atlantic. We have British and American histories ; 
we have biography ; and the pages of periodical Uterature have 
been, in turn, alike devoted to the events of an epoch when the 
worid was a-glow with arms, and war seemed to be the main voca- 
tion of mankind ; but the works of the general historian are 
voluminous and inaccessible to the masses, and the part jaelded to 
Canada is unavoidably small, on an arena occupied by the embat- 
tled nations of the earth. The Canadian authorities, faitliful and 
reliable guides so far as they go, arc, mostly, out of print and 
scarce ; and they have been succeeded, and their places usui-ped 
at our'own firesides, by a flood of American publications, sensa- 



OBJECT AND AIM OF THE CHRONICLE. 19 

.tional as they are termed, written for show, designed for sale, and, 
to this end, pandering to the worst passions of a morbid nation- 
ality. Writers of this class run, frantically, full tilt at Britain, 
her institutions and her colonies, -with death's-head and marrow- 
bones for device ; and the bones are broiled, devilled, and seasoned 
to suit a literary taste prurient and craving as the appetite of the 
hungry ogre in the nursery tale, who snuiFs the wind and mutters — 

Fe, fi, fo, fum, 

I smell the blood of an Englishman: 

Be he alive, or be he dead, 

I'll grind his bones to make my bread. 

The present is therefore deemed to be an opportune moment to 
place the following pages before the Canadian public. A new 
book on an old subject may oflfer the attraction of novelty, and, in 
the present instance, will possess the advantage of an anxious 
desire for truth. One great object will have been obtained, if it 
provides an antidote to the American literature of the day ; if it 
counteracts its influence, while it eschews its example. Nothing 
will be extenuated for the solace of British pride or to palliate 
British shortcomings ; and most assuredly nothing shall be mali- 
ciously charged to their adversaries. It will be the endeavor of 
this narration to invest the story told, as far as possible, with a 
Canadian character ; to present the war in Canada in a Canadian 
point of view ; and, while giving all honor to those to whom honor 
is justly due, still to impart, as far as can be rightly done, a Cana- 
dian individuality to this Canadian Chronicle of the War. 

This design has been greatly aided by the kindness of some few 
of the survivors of the warlike scenes of " fifty years since," 
who have embellished by the light of their reminiscences a work 
which has no other claim to originality. In justice to these ven- 
erable contributors, their names will be given in proper time and 
place, in gentle violation of the reluctant modesty inseparable from 



20 CHRONIOLE OF THE WAR. 

bravery and worth, and wliu;h never has shone more brightly and 
-ft-ith less of affectation, than in the present mstance. 

And in the nights of winter, 

When the cold north Aviuds blow 
And the long howling of the wolves 

Is heard among the snow ; 
When round the lonely cottage 

Blows loud the tempest's din, 
And the good logs of Algidus 

Roar louder yet within ; 

When the oldest cask is opened. 

And the largest lamp is lit ; 
When the chestnuts glow in the embers, 

And the kid turns on the spit; 
When the young and old in circle 

Around the firebrands close ; 
When the girls are weaving baskets. 

And the boys are shaping bows ; 

When the gudeman mends his armour, 

And trims his helmet's plume ; 
When the good wife's shuttle merrily 

Goes flashing through the loom,— 
With weeping and with laughter 

Still is the story told 
How well Iloratius kept the bridge 

In the brave days of old. 



CHAPTER II. 

lol2— Duration of the "War— Feeling in Canada. The 'War no Canadian quarrel. Value of 
Canada to England at that crisis. The feeling between the British and American 
people. British pretensions— Eight of Search— Resisted by the Danes— The northern 
powers— The Americans, British dilemma. Blockade of 1806. Berlin and Milan 
Decrees. Orders in Council. Constructive Blockade. French and American incon- 
sistency. Troubles of neutrals. Affair of the Leopard and Chesapeake, 1807. American 
exacerbation. British exclusion from American harbours. American gratitude to 
France. French sympathy in Canada a mistake. Tlie Eastern States averse to the 
War. Affair of the President and Little Belt, 1811. Irritation increases. President of 
United States appeals to Congress. War declared 18th June, 1812. Futile attempt to 
capture British West India fleet. British disbelief in a war. 

The war of 1812 — so called in Canada — extended over three 
years, — 1812, 1818, 1814. War was declared by Act of Congress 
of the United States on the 18th June, 1812. It was terminated 
by the provisions of the Treaty of Ghent, 24th December, 1814 ; 
which, however, was not ratified at Washington before February 
7th, nor procLaimed in Canada until the 21st March, 1815. 

Canada in 1812 cared as little, as at present, for a war with her 
powerful neighbor, but, as at present, cared not to evade it. 
The ploughshare and the broad-axe are her indigenous weapons, 
only to be exchanged at the call of honor, and of the public 
safety. Defence, not defiance, has been and ever will be her 
motto. 

The war of 1812 was no Canadian quarrel. It was forced upon 
the Canadian people, and fought upon Canadian soil, to gratify the 
antipathies of two nations, too like to be loving. True it is, 
the British Canadians of the West did not belie their descent, 



22 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

and shared, without stint, in the Aveakness and the strength of the 
British character ; nor can it be denied, that the French popula- 
tion of the East woke up to the fight with the gaj and gallant 
spirit of their chivalrous forefathers. But the lot of both was to 
be betwixt the upper and the nether grindstone, and both faced 
the inevitable ordeal bravely and well. 

Nor is it right to admit, as some have asserted and many have 

beheved, that the assistance of England was purely gi-atuitous, 

that the defence of Canada brought no compensation, that it was 
in fact an additional burthen at a burthensome crisis ; for it is 
beyond dispute, that the North American Provinces, and Canada 
especially, were indispensable to England at this period of the Great 
War in Europe. At the time that she was excluded from the 
ports of the Baltic, her best supplies of timber came from Canada, 
and the non-intercoui'se acts of the United States had thrown her, 
for this article, almost exclusively on the resources of the North 
American colonies. One of the strongest arguments for war in 
the Congress of the United States was that employed in 1811 by 
Mr. Porter, the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, in 
reference to the conquest of Canada. " These Provinces," said 
the speaker, " are not only immensely valuable, but almost indis- 
pensable to the existence of Great Britain, cut off, as she now is in 
a great measure, from the North of Europe. The exports from 
Quebec only, amounted during the last year to near six millions of 
dollars, in ship-timber, and provisions for support of her fleets and 
armies." Canada, in ftict, made rich return for the expense of 
defending her, by the supplies attbrded to the West India colonies, 
and to meet the home demand. The war with Najioleon proved 
the value of these colonics, and a war with Russia might show it 
again. 

Little heed, however, did the men of those days give to ques- 
tions of this sort. The only question lu'tween England and her 



CANADIAN SPIRIT— BRITISH FEELING. 23 

colony then, was one of mutual assistance. The men of the United 
States Avere shrewder calculators, but the feeling which ruled in the 
British heart was one of bitter irritation. The war, indeed, was, at 
the bottom, no quarrel between governments. The governments 
of the day were but the instruments of the time. The real cause 
of strife was to be found in the temper of the people. It was a 
personal " turn up " between Jonathan and John Bull. 

Inter 
Hectora Priamidem animosum atque inter Acbillem 
Ira fuit capitalis. 

The animosity engendered between the British and American 
nations by the War of the Revolution had not been allayed by the 
peace of 1783. It had excoriated both parties. The people on 
both sides were dissatisfied with the results of the contest. Neither 
had had enough; each had still an old grudge to settle; the 
British were keen for a fight, the Americans were keener, and 
grasped at the first uiviting opportunity. 

From the day when Burke exclaimed against " the passion which 
many men in very humble life have taken in the American war, 
and in our subjects in America, our colonies, our dependencies,'* 
and denounced " the syren song of ambition which has charmed 
ears one would have thought were never organized to that sort 
of music," * to the close of that contest, the spirit of the British 
people was the same ; That spirit survived the contest. They 
could forgive the French Fontenoy and Steinkirk, they could 
exchange stern courtesy with Luxembourg or Marshal Saxe, for 
they had entertained with still greater courtesy captive French 
monarchs and marshals ; but they had no offset to the humiliations 
of the American War, nor to the victories of militia generals. 
They could not give in : their umpires had done so for them, but 
they were anxious for another round. 

* Speech previous to the election, Bristol, 1780. 



24 



CHRONICLE OF TEE WAR. 



^ Since the peace of 1783 the British and the Americans had 
divided between them the carrying trade of the worid. They met 
in every harbour, and in every harbour came to blows. The 
words " Yankee " and " Britisher," with a sanguinary expletive, 
were constant terms of mutual reproach, and tlie popular voices of 
New York and Liverpool swelled the chorus with accompaniments 
not always the most soothhag ;— the feeUng between the people was 
very bad. 

The Government of America shared largely in this iU feeling; 

Tbe dog, to gain his private ends, 
Went mad, and bit the man. 

The Government of England in all sincerity— hotly pressed and 
fighting against heavy odds elsewhere— sought no additional quar- 
rel with America. But it was borne down by the bm-den of its 
traditions. With the pertinacity of vigorous age, it clung to the 
assumptions of triumphant and overbearing boyhood. The mari- 
time pretensions of England were, at this time, excessive. For- 
getful of all but her naval strengtli and hereditary renown, she 
exacted concessions she would have scorned to grant, and to which 
no sph'ited nation, more especially one sprung from her own loins, 
could condescend to submit. 

She insisted on the " Right of Seai-ch." First, to search neu- 
tral vessels fur hostile property, whether " contraband of war " or 
not ; and secondly, and still more offensively, on the right to search 
neutral vessels— even the war-ships of peaceful nations— in quest 
of deserters. The Americans, on tlicir part, contended that the 
flag covered the merchandise, that tlic deck of an American ship 
was a sanctuary, and that the pretension to search for deserters 
was a profanation and an outrage. 

In ihv hauglity s].irit of their Norse forefathers, the Vikings of 
England had, lur centuries, exacted from all nations obedience in 



CAUSES OF QUARREL — RIGHT OF SEARCH. 25 

the " narrow seas." The power to compel, whether it was to 
" dip a flag" or, to give up a deserter, continued to be arrogated 
and exercised. But in time, other men arose who resisted the 
imposition , In 1799 the Danish frigate Haufenau had contested 
the attempt to search neutral vessels under convoy, and the Danish 
Minister, Count Bernstorf, had replied to the angry remonstrance 
of England, that " the captain of the Danish king's frigate, by- 
repelling a violence which he had no right to expect, had done no 
more than his duty ;" and in the summer of 1800 the Freya, 
another Danish frigate, fought most gallantly in support of the 
independence of her national flag, and, having lost two men killed 
and five wounded, struck her colors, and was carried into the 
Downs.* 

To these pretensions, followed by such acts, is to be ascribed the 
combination of the Northern powers — Russia, Sweden, Denmark, 
and Prussia — in 1800, to secure, as it was termed, " the liberty of 
the seas," so that neutral ships should freely navigate the coasts of 
belligerent powers — that everything but what was expressly con- 
traband should be held to be free — that the declaration of officers 
commanding ships of war should free the cargoes of their convoys, — 
and that no search should be allowed." There can be little doubt 
but that the popular irritation upon such subjects greatly strength- 
ened the hands of Napoleon in his subsequent occupation of the 
Scandinavian kingdoms. In the year 1800, when the American 
envoys, Messrs. Elsworth, Henry, and Murray, took leave of the 
Consular Government of France, they were entertained at a ban- 
quet, where the Consul Lebrun proposed the significant toast, 
" To the union of America with the power of the North, that 
respect may be procured for the liberty of the seas." f 

As the refusal to recognize these " new regulations," as they 

* Gififord's History of the War of the French Revolution, Yol. I, p. 296. 
t Ibidem. 



26 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

were termed, was the ostensible cause of the war of 1812, it may 
be permitted here to inquire a httle further. 

The innate justice of EngLand had been early aroused to a sense 
of the unreasonableness of these pretensions. The Government 
of England was prepared to abate this annoyance by treaty stipu- 
lations. Indeed, in 1806, negotations to this effect were actually 
closed by a treaty between England and America, which ]\Ir. Jef- 
ferson, for reasons best known to himself, refused to ratify ; the 
practice therefore, objectionable as it was, reverted to the statu quo 
ante. The principles then contended for, are fully recognized now. 
They have been accepted and acted upon by all civilized nations 
for half a century. The first nation to violate them has been the 
Americans themselves, in the late notable exploit of the irrepressible 
Wilkes. 

And it should be kept in mind, that, at this critical period, 
England was involved m a gigantic contest. Almost single-handed, 
she had for years resisted the combined powers of Europe, grasped 
and wielded by the most extraordinary genius of modern times. 
Every means and device of war had been employed and exhausted 
in this stupendous struggle. This was no time for concessions 
which could only strengthen her adversaries. Indeed, as war 
measures alone, the measures taken would have been justifiable. 

In May, 1806, Mr. Fox, then leader of the British Govern- 
ment, had declared the coasts of France and Holland, from Brest 
to the Elbe, to be in a state of blockade, and enforced the declara- 
tion by the exhi1)ition of IGO ships of war, under Lord Keith, in 
the Chaiiiiol and on tlic North Sea. 

In November 1806, and in November 1807, Napoleon, by Decrees 
dated from Berlin and Milan respectively, retaliated. He declared 
the whole British Islands to be in a state of blockade, authorized 
the seizure of any vessel, of any nation, bound to I^ritain, and con- 
fiscated Hritish goods, whether coiitraI);uid of war or not, found 



BLOCKADE, REAL AND CONSTRUCTIVE. 27 

sailing under any flag. England again retorted by further Orders 
in Council, November, 1807, declaring all countries under the 
power of France to be blockaded, whether actually blockaded or 
not ; and that all products of countries so constructively blockaded, 
being taken, in the bottoms or ships of any nation, should be held 
to be good prize. 

Constructive blockade was an innovation in the engmery of war. 
It was blockading run mad. The right to blockade an enemy's 
ports in time of actual warfare had been perfectly understood, 
so long as the blockade was eifectual and complete ; but the block- 
ade declared by England was of countries, not specific ports, and 
was declared to exist, whether such countries were actually block- 
aded or not. England justified her course by contending that, as 
mistress of the seas, having one thousand ships of war afloat, she 
practically blockaded the whole world. We will Bot pause to dis- 
cuss this process of reasoning ; but if fallacious and unjust on the 
part of England, how should it be designated on the part of Napo- 
leon, who, " without a single ship of the line, and only a few 
smaller vessels capable of putting to sea, declared the whole British 
Empire in a state of blockade" ?* 

It is also right to notice, that, by the French treaty of IMoite- 
fontaine, to which the Americans were parties in the year 1800, the 
Maritime code, promulgated by Napoleon himself, had stipulated 
with ostentatious liberality that " the flag should cover the mer- 
chandise." Thus while England, by her Orders in Council, adhered 
reluctantly and ex necessitate rei to obsolete traditions, France, who, 
with great trumpeting, had abandoned all right, by her Decrees 
deliberately violated her own treaty stipulations to suit a present 
purpose. Moreover, it was felt in England, and felt sorely, that 
while she was fighting the battle of constitutional freedom against 



* Alison., Am. ed., Vol. IV, p. 453. 



28 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

stark despotism, and was compelled to have recourse to expedients 
she would otherwise have been willing to waive, free America sym- 
pathized and sided with the French Emperor, that 

TVbat in the corporal was but a choleric word, 
Was ia the soldier a flat blasphemy. 

It must be admitted, at once, that the neutral was sorely tried. 
Well might he exclaim, under the conflicting circumstances, " a 
plague on both your houses." He was bandied between the dis- 
putants after a fashion equally fatal to trade and temper ; and had 
he turned with equal spirit on both tormentors, little blame would 
he have had. During this absorbing and protracted contest, 
wherein every French and every British seaman — by press-gang or 
conscription — had been claimed for the service of his country, the 
Americans, safe in their neutraUty, had, by degrees, almost monopo- 
lized the carrying trade of the world ; An enormous commerce had 
grown up, upon which the British Order iu Council and the French 
Decree fell with ruinous force ; and from the nature of things, the 
gripe of the Briton outreached and outmeasured the stroke of the 
Gaul. The cruisers of England swarmed on every sea ; American 
vessels, bound to French jwrts, or to, or from, ports of countries 
tributary to France, were captured by scores ; while the merchant- 
man boimd to Britain or her Colonies, was safe except from some occa- 
sional French frigate or skulking privateer. While this state of 
things existed, the bill of damages incurred on French account, was 
largely against England ; but at the same time, had a kindlier or more 
kindred spirit prevailed in America, it would have been seen, that 
the interruption of tlic trade with France was amply compensated 
by an immense and more [jrofitablc trade Avith Great Britain, and 
the memory of a generous forbearance would have been productive 
of fruit to unborn generations. 

]>ut, u]ion the old rankling was jiilcd this new agony; and in 



LEOPARD AND CHESAPEAKE — WRATH OF AMERICA. 29 

1807, June 22, occurred an incident whicli greatly exasperated 
the pre-existing bad feeling. The right of search was rudelj tested. 
The Leopard, a British 74-gun ship, acting under orders from the 
Admiral of the North American station, overhauled in American 
waters, the American frigate Chesapeake, and demanded the sur- 
render of certain alleged deserters. The demand was refused, and 
the refusal was answered by a broadside, to which the Chesapeake 
replied, but, inferior in strength, struck her colors, having lost three 
men killed and eighteen wounded, among the latter the commander, 
Commodore Barron. The deserters were arrested and removed, 
taken to Halifax and tried, and one, convicted of piracy and mutiny, 
was hanged. 

This act was an outrage — a high-handed act of that school of 
Tritons in which Commodore Wilkes of the U. S. N. subsequently 
graduated ; but before one word of remonstrance or complaint 
could reach the British Government, this act of aggression was dis- 
avowed. Captain Humphreys, commanding the Leopard, though 
acting under orders, was recalled. Admiral Humphreys was super- 
seded, and every possible reparation made and offered. It was 
declared " that the right of search when applied to vessels of 
war, extended only to a requisition, and could not be carried into 
effect by force." 

But the wrath of America was unappeasable — the blow, the 
irreparable and unpardonable bloAV had been struck. It was the 
natural instinct of a young and brave people. On subjects such as 
these the British were comparatively easy, — their national character 
was made, but the Americans — a new nation — had a national charac- 
ter to make. They were, therefore, on this occasion, " all feehng 
and raw life," and brought the brave Commodore Barron to a court- 
martial for not resisting further, where no good was to be gained 
or honor won. 

The resentment of the American Government was hot and hasty. 



30 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

Before asking, and without awaiting, reparation, the President 
issued a Proclamation excluding from the harbors of the United 
States His Britannic INIajestj's ships. As the fleets of France 
continued to enjoy access to these ports, this act was, at once, 
hostile to the former and friendly to the latter country. If 
England had resented the capture of the Trent with similar 
virulence, the Tuscarora would never have blockaded the Sumpter, 
for weeks, in Southampton water. But Jefferson, the representa- 
tive of the democratic principle in American politics, was Presi- 
dent of the United States. He and his party betrayed on this 
occasion, and on many more, strong hatred to England, and marked 
favoritism towards France. It is undeniable that the American 
people owed a deep debt of gratitude to France. Lafayette and 
Rochambeau and De Grasse aided, and more than aided, to achieve 
the independence of America. America owed to France a grateful 
return, and exhibited her gratitude by suffering much, and saying 
little. The democratic party, eager to humble Britain, accepted 
any humiliation rather than quarrel with France. They submitted 
to the capture of ships in neutral ports, the sequestration of 
cargoes, the ransom of merchandise, with a faint remonstrance. 
French Avar ships seized American merchantmen at sea, plun- 
dered and burnt them, — an example whic^i has been feebly imi- 
tated by the notorious Alabama of the present day. They con- 
soled themselves with the belief that the anticipated triumph of the 
French Emperor in Europe, Avould ensure their supremacy on this 
continent. They were prepared to divide the Avorld between them. 
With this view they accepted wrong from France, and heaped 
wrong on England. England's difficulty had become America's 
opportunity. In the words of the historian Alison, " the ostensible 
object of the Avar Avas to estal^lish the principle that the flag covers 
the merchandise, and that the right of search for seamen Avho have 
deserted, is inadmissible ; the real object Avas to wrest from Great 



MODERATION OF THE EASTERN STATES. 31 

Britain the Canadas, and, in conjunction with Napoleon, extin- 
guish its maritime and Colonial Empire." 

Politicians, too, of this early American school, had a notion that 
French connection and the conquest of Canada were synonymous 
terms. This was a great mistake, as was found out, some short 
time after, on the battlefield of Chateauguay ; but from the first, 
it had an unexpected good effect, for the very suggestion of a 
French policy or the exercise of French influence, tested the 
British feeling still latent in the hearts of thousands of Americans. 
In the New England States, a war with England was denounced, 
which, without any just grounds, destroyed their trade and paralyzed 
their industry. Citizens of these States expressed an abhorrence of 
France, and of its rule, and protested against the contemplated 
jntroduction of French troops on this continent, Avhich, under the 
pretext of subduing or seducing the French Canadians, might prove 
to be subversive of their own liberties. 

It is probable, that to this worthy spirit of truthful independence, 
may be ascribed the fact, that during the whole of the ensuing war, 
the immense extent of frontier between Lower Canada and the 
States of Vermont, New Ilampsliire, and Maine, was unassailed by 
an enemy. It is well worthy of reflection that, during the whole 
war of 181 2 no hostile irruption was attempted upon the Province, 
from Lake Champlain to the ocean. The facilities were as great 
and the temptation as strong, as when the impetuous Arnold forced 
a passage to Quebec down the valley of the Chaudiere. This feat, 
executed in 1775, in the depth of a Canadian winter, athwart a 
howling wilderness, ofiered an incentive and an example, which 
could only have been counteracted by the sober good sense and 
right feeling of the people of the Eastern States in 1812. 

Amid these diversities 
There is much wisdom to be taught and learnt. 

At this period of universal ferment, when decrees, orders in 



32 CHRONICLE OF THE "WAR. 

council, proclamations, non-importation and non-intercourse aSts, 
embargos and imbroglios, with their mystical jargon, puzzled, scared 
and exasperated half mankind, Avhen America rejected British 
manufactures, and prohibited the exportation of cotton and corn, 
■when the artisans and operatives of England were half crazed with 
famine, — occurred another untoward event, which exhibited in the 
brightest light that noble forbearance which is to this day the 
proud inheritance of a fearless people. 

On the IGth May, 1811, the British sloop of war Little Belt, of 
18 guns, commanded by Captain Bingham, was pursued off Cape 
Charles by the American 44-gun frigate President. America was 
at peace with the whole world. Commodore Rogers had nothing to 
fear, and had nothing to ask, of a foreign war-ship of any nation, of 
such inferior force. On American principles, he had no right to 
overhaul or search. He did overhaul, and hailed ; and declared that 
he was answered by a shot, which led to a determined fight of three 
quarters of an hour between the ponderous American and his pigmy 
antagonist. The Little Belt was shot to pieces. Commodore 
Rogers, on learning the name of his adversary, politely regretted 
the mistake, and offered help. Bingham demurred to the mistake, 
and declined assistance. He could help himself, and so he did, 
and brought his small ship in a sinking state into Halifax, with eleven 
men killed and twenty-tAvo wounded. This oflBcer averred, with 
much reason, that his orders prohibited, and common sense forbade 
the collision he was said to have provoked. The statements on 
both sides were conflicting ; we are left to draw a reasonable infer- 
ence from the f;\cts. Rogers was tried by court martial, and ac(iuit- 
ted amid much national exultation. The American government 
disavowed hostile instruction, and the British Govcrmucnt acqui- 
esced in the amende, and made no remark. 

This offering of the cheek to the smitcr does not seem to have 
been appreciated. It very rarely is. The forbearance of England 



PRESIDENT AND LITTLE BELT — NATIONAL CONTRAST. 83 

was honest, unselfish, self-denying, but it was entirely misconstrued. 
Neither reparation, as in the case of the Chesapeake, nor patience, 
as in that of the Little Belt, could induce a corresponding spirit. 
The temper of America had festered into rancor. The feeling of 
the governing masses was not ill-expressed in the lines of Martial : 

Non amo te, Sabidi, nee possum dicere quare, 
Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te. 

In November, 1811, the President officially appealed to arms. 
Congress eagerly responded by large votes of men and money. 
During the winter, warlike armaments were made ; in the spring, 
fresh votes of money and men. At length, and at this juncture, 
when the Emperor Napoleon, at the head of the largest army the 
world had seen, was pressing on triumphantly to the boasted subju- 
gation of all the Russias, and Wellington, squabbling with Camaril- 
las and Juntos, was preparing, in silence and apparent discomfiture, 
for a renewal of the struggle in Spain, the United States declared 
war against Great Britain ; nor did they waver when they learned, 
a few weeks after, that the obnoxious order in Council, so bitterly 
resented, had at the time of the declaration of war been actually 
repealed. War was declared on the 18th of June, 1812, by Act 
of Congress. Mr. Madison, then President, who had done all in 
his power to exasperate existing ill-will, and to lash the popular 
mind to frenzy, eluded the responsibility of the fatal act, and made 
a catspaw of the legislature. 

" Coming events cast their shadows before," particularly to those 
who can shape events to suit their own purposes. The declaration 
of war was preceded by an embargo imposed in April, 1812, devised 
shrewdly, to intercept all som-ces of transatlantic information with Eng- 
land, and to give to the spoiler her homeward bound West India fleet. 
It was well known that this rich prize would be on the Atlantic in 
May or June, unsuspecting and insufficiently protected. By closing 
their ports, the Americans cut off all communication between the 

c 



34 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

covintries, and caused great loss to their own and British commerce, 
but secured, thereby, all the sailors of the impounded ships, of their 
own marine, and of other countries also, for future national service 
on the ocean and the lakes. Instructions must have been given 
to the American navy long before the declaration of war, for, on the 
18th June, the day on w^hich war was declared at Washington, 
Commodore Rogers — red with the blood of Cock Robin — ^backed by 
a stout squadron of three frigates and two sloops, gave chase to 
the West India fleet, convoyed by the frigate Belvidei-a, which gal- 
lantly rescued every merchantman, and saved herself. Thus failed 
this cute speculation on the argosies of England, and the cotem- 
poraneous invasion of Canada fared no better. 

The people and the authorities of Canada had for long been 
alive to the imminence of a war. Standing on the brink of the 
crater they could see the daily progress of the red and angry 
torrent, destined at any moment to boil over and ravage their own 
quiet homes. A cry for support and assistance, rather than protec- 
tion, had long before gone forth, and was met, as it appeared to 
them, by an inconceivable apathy. The rulers of England believed, 
or forced themselves to believe, that the United States would never 
quarrel with their own kith and kin, and their best friend and 
customer, in unnatural alliance with the despot of Europe. They 
relied on the right feeling, the shrewd and practical sense, and on 
the commercial interests — both of North and South — of democrat 
and federalist. The people of England, rallying from a staggermg 
blow, looked only to their front, regardless of the assailant in the 
rear. They were, at this moment, fighting for dear life with a 
gigantic and remorseless foe. " Three days after the American 
declaration of Avar, AVellington crossed the Agueda to commence 
the Salamanca campaign. Six days after, Napoleon passed the 
ifiemen on his way to Moscow, at the head of 380,000 mem" * 



• Alison, Vol. IV, ch. 76. 



CHAPTER III. 

Stateof Canada at the outbreak of the war. Military force— Attitude of the people. Avatar 
of Brock — His character and early career — Letter from Montreal, 1808 — Takes command 
of troops in Upper Canada, 1810 — Becomes Lieutenant-Governor, 1811. Hull invades 
Canada, 12th July. Proclamation— Brock's reply— Meets Parliament. Sjflrit of the 
country. United Empire Loyalists. Proctor at Amherstburg, 4th August — Detaches 
Tecumseh — Defeats Van Home. On 7th August, Hull retires from Canada. Affair at 
Magagua. Capture of Michilimacinac, by Capt. Roberts and Toussaint Pothier. Brock 
with York Volunteers reaches Amherstburg. Interview with Tecumseh. Capture of 
Detroit, 16th August, 1812. 

At the outbreak of the war, Canada was in fact in a defenceless 
condition. To man the fortresses of Quebec and Kmgston, and to 
cover a frontier of 1,700 miles in length, the whole available force 
consisted of 4,450 regulars of all arms. In the Upper Province, 
which presents a water frontier of 1,300 miles, there were but 1,450 
soldiers, or about two men and a fraction per mile, without counting 
garrisons. Sir George Prevost, whose qualifications partook more 
of a civil than of a mihtary character, governed the country, and 
commanded in chief. The militia consisted of about 2,000 men in 
the Lower Province, and perhaps 1,800 in the Upper, not all called 
out, unarmed and undisciphned, and possessing little of the appear- 
ance or of the quality of soldiers, except pluck. 

It may well be imagined, and admitted without disparagement to 
any, that, in the absence of all fitting preparation, the tocsin of 
w^r bore upon its echoes dismay to many hearts. The prepara- 
tions of the enemy had been long made and ostentatiously paraded. 
Doubtless their extent had been exaggerated, but still they were 



36 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

immeasurably in advance of our own. Indeed the apparent^ su- 
pineness on our part had engendered doubt and suggested disaffec- 
tion. It is impossible to ignore the alarai, and confusion, and 
despondency, "which settled down, for a time, like a black cloud upon 
the country, until suddenly, day broke through the gloom, and the 
stalwart form and sterling character of Brock strode into light. 

Like the white horse in a battle-piece by Wouvermans, in every 
delineation of this war, Isaac Brock stands forth from the canvas, 
the central figure and commanding feature of the scene. It will 
not be uninteresting, therefore, to offer, at the outset, a brief sketch 
of his eflrher career. He was born in the Island of Guernsey in 
1769, the year which gave birth to Napoleon and Wellington. He 
"was descended from an old and respected family. He obtained his 
first commission in 1785, served in the West Indies, was promoted 
rapidly, thanks to the havoc of climate ; and, by the force of a vigor- 
ous constitution, survived to command the 4'Jth foot as senior Colonel 
in the expedition to Holland in 1799, where he made his mark 
under adverse circumstances. In 1801 he was selected with his 
regiment to serve under Lord Nelson, in his memorable attack on 
Copenhagen. In 1802, Brock accompanied his regiment to Canada, 
and was, for the next ten years of his fife, identified with the exist- 
ence of a country which he ultimately governed wiselj^, defended 
nobly, and Avhich points to his grave as the monument of his glory. 
He was a man of natural capacity, self-cultivated, resolute, and 
endowed remarkably with the qualities of forethought and foresight. 
His correspondence, imperfectly preserved, makes us regret that 
so much should have been lost.* These memorials of an honest, 
modest, and truly brave nature, have furnished the greater part of 
these details. In person he was tall and athletic, with a command- 
ing bearing and gentle manner. In private life he was irreproach- 

• Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock, by Tuppcr. 



EARLY CAREER OF BROCK. 37 

able, universally respected by those who did not know him, and 
loved by those who did. His public life speaks for itself. 

In 1806, being senior officer at the time, Col. Brock commanded 
the troops both in Upper and Lower Canada, and so threatening 
was the aspect of aSkirs — six years before the war broke out — " the 
Americans being employed in drilling and forming their militia, and 
openly declaring their intention of invading the Province the 
instant that war is determined on," * that he took Aagorous measures 
for the defence of the Ancient Capital, and for strengthening Cape 
Diamond. On the arrival of Sir James Craig, the new Governor 
General and Commander-in-Chief, he relinquished his temporary 
command, and returned to his regiment, which was always in 
splendid order. In 1808 he was appointed to be a Brigadier ; and 
an extract from a letter written to his brother in July of that year 
is worth reproducing here, as showing the malice aforethought 
which provoked the war — the pre-determination to " corner" Great 
Britain — to compel her to resent accumulated wrong — to strike the 
first blow, — and thus to unite the disunited opinions of the people of 
the States on the unavoidable necessity of war. 

" What will be the result of our present unsettled relations with 
the neighboring republic," says Brock in 1808, " it is very diffi- 
cult to say. The government is composed of such unprincipled 
men, that to calculate on it by the ordinary rules of action would 
be absurd. We have completely outwitted Jefferson, and all his 
schemes to provoke us to war. He had no other object in view in 
issuing his restrictive proclamation ; but failing in that, he tried what 
the embargo would produce, and in this he has been foiled again. 
Certainly our administration is deserving of every praise for their 
policy on these occasions. Jefferson and his party, however strong 
the inclination, dare not declare war, and therefore they endeavor 

• Correspondence of Sir I. Brock, p. 45, 



38 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

to attain their objects bj every provocation. A few weeks since 
the garrison of Niagara fired upon seven merchant boats passing 
the fort, and actually captured them. Considering the circum- 
stances attending this hostile act, it is but too evident it was 
intended to provoke retaliation. These boats were fired upon and 
taken within musket shot of our OAvn fort. Their balls, falling on 
our own shore, were expected to have raised the indignation of 
the most phlegmatic. Fortunately, the commandant was not in 
the way, as otherwise it is difficult to say what would have hap- 
pened. A representation of this affair has been made at Washing- 
ton, and for an act certainly opposed to existing treaties, we have 
been referred for justice to the ordinary courts of law."* 

This letter was written from Montreal, but Brock was chiefly 
employed at Quebec up to July, 1810, when he was despatclied to 
take command of the troops in Upper Canada by Sii* James Craig. 
He established his head quarters at Fort George, on the Niagara 
frontier, but visited all the frontier forts, remaining for some time 
on the river Detroit, absorbed in observation and preparation for 
the contest he knew to be before him. In 1811, Sir George Prevost 
reached Quebec, and in October of that year, Francis Gore, Esq., 
the Lieut.-Govcrnor of Upper Canada, having returned to England 
on leave. Brock, now a Major-General, succeeded him, and thus, 
at a critical moment, the civil as well as the military authority in 
the Upper Province was combined, most providentially, in the man 
most competent to confront the emergency. It is instructive to 
note from his correspondence at this time, how sagaciously he fore- 
saw, how earnestly he forewarned, and to observe how little his 
counsels were appreciated. 

War was declared on the 18tli June, 1812, but, by some strange 
omission on the part of the British minister at Washington, the 
official notification did not reach Sir George Prevost until the 7th 

• Correspondence of Sir J. Brock, p. 45. 



DECLARATION OF THE WAR, JUNE 18tH, 1812. 39 

July. General Brock was not oflBcially notified at all. Happily, 
private patriotism and enterprise supplied the deficiency. Mr. 
Richardson of Montreal, afterwards the Hon. John Richardson, had 
apprised the Governor General of the fact on the 25th June, and 
the intelligence reached Brock, through a private channel, about the 
same time. He was then at Fort George. He made the most, at 
once, of his insufficient means. If not forearmed, he had fortu- 
nately been forewarned, by his own forecast. Personally he provided 
for the protection of the Niagara and Detroit portion of his com- 
mand. To INIajor General Shaw he confided the Eastern frontier, 
of which Kingston was the centre. 

The thunder cloud soon burst ; — Long before the declaration 
of war, the American government had despatched from Ohio 
into the territory of Michigan 2,500 men, under Brigadier- 
General Hull. On the 12th July, Hull invaded Canada. He 
crossed the Straits, or Detroit, as it was called by the old French 
settlers — the earliest of the offshoots from the parent settlement 
at Quebec — to Sandwitch ; where the people, in their habits 
and language, in their horses, vehicles, and domestic arrange- 
ments, — where the long lines of Lombardy poplars, pear trees of 
unusual age and size, and umbrageous walnut trees, — still remind 
the traveller of the banks of the Loire. He landed among a sim- 
ple, inoffensive, agricultural people, indisposed to resistance, and 
thundered forth a proclamation. This document appealed to the 
fear of poltroons and the instinct of traitors, denied the right of the 
red man to defend his own soil, and doomed to death every white 
man found fightino; at his side. It threatened all who resisted with 
" the horrors and calamities of war," and proffered to the recreant 
and vanquished " peace, liberty, and security." 

To this, on the 22nd July, Brock nobly repUed, that the crown 
of England would defend and avenge all its subjects, whether red 
or white, and that Canada knew its duty to itself and to its sove- 



40 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

reign, and was neither to be bullied nor cajoled into a departure 
from it. 

On the 17th he had opened an extra session of the Legislature 
of Upper Canada, and it must be o^ned that, at this crisis, the 
Legislature was despondent, and the people misgave. But a change 
in the scene speedily took place ; the noble character of Brock 
rapidly assumed its natural ascendency, the pubUc mind became 
reassured, public confidence revived, and the lava tide of loyalty, 
living though latent, surged up and blazed forth as a bale-fii'e, 
inextinguishable in the land. 

Loyalty to England, fealty to the crown, were the birthnght 
and heir-loom of this people. The first settlers on the soil were 
the American loyalists, men of educated and elevated minds, who 
had undergone trials and persecutions, and a fierce fight of afilic- 
tions in the cause of the King and of the " auld countree," 
and Avho exclaimed in the affecting language of the Psalmist : 
" When I forget thee, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget 
its cunning." They had left home, and friends, and wealth, and 
station, for a principle sanctified by its disinterestedness, and 
by the cunning of their hands had enshrined it in the heai-t of 
the wilderness. They hud borne, for long, the scoffs and jeers 
of neighbors, who twitted them with a foolish choice, and who, 
until late trials, have not known the sacred impulse of a great 
cause. The reflections of the past had been to these men the only 
— the proud reward of rare sufferings and noble sacrifices. Oh let 
it net be imputed to them or to their descendants, that they have 
dwelt upon tlicii- loyalty overmuch. Englishmen make no more 
boast of their hiyalty than they do of their honesty, or of their ti-utli, 
or of any other of those manly virtues, which they justly claim to 
be national characteristics ; but, for generations, few have actually 
paid tlie price of their faith, and none can recall the rapture with 
which ilic martyr-;, for conscience' sake, glory in the scenes of their 



THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS. 41 

martyrdom. If the loud hosanna is often on their lips, the spirit is 
ever present in their hearts. If they lay claim to the " sangre azur," 
they are ever ready to prove its quality, and to pour it forth in the 
cause of their Sovereign and of the time-honored flag of England. 
On this emergency, the United Empire Loyalists were, as ever, true 
to their antecedents. They thronged to the banner of Brock. The 
Province rose as a man. Numbers for whom arms could not be 
provided, returned disappointed to their homes. The rest did their 
duty nobly, and 

Have left their sons a hope, a fame, 

They too would rather die than shame. 

In this interval, while Brock was exhorting his Legislature and 
forming new levies, his lieutenants in the west had not been idle. 

Hull was in a position of great anxiety ; he had to draw all 
his resources from his rear, from distant Ohio, through ways which 
could not be called roads, and which were infested by savages. 
The extent of his force increased his difficulties ; he had too many 
mouths to feed, and yet he could not detach in sufficient force to 
secure his communications. Proctor, who commanded at Amherst- 
burg a force of about 350 men, threatened on his right by Hull, 
had still nerve enough to detach Tecumseh, the chief of the Sha- 
wanee Indians, across the Detroit River, to intercept a convoy 
commanded by Major Van Home. The detachment was encoun- 
tered in the bush, defeated, and scattered, the provisions captured, 
and the mail, containing the correspondence of the American 
army, fell into the hands of the savages. This occurred on the 
4th of August. On the 7th, Hull, who had crossed to the easy 
conquest of Canada, and had relied on the country for supplies 
and upon the people for reinforcements, began to be satisfied of 
his mistake. He had made one or two abortive attempts on Fort 
Maiden. Colonel Cass, the hero of Ta-ron-tee, had earned this 
designation by an heroic retreat from before a few Indians at the 



42 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

Riviere aux Canards, Avhich lies between Sandwich and Fort Maiden 
or Amherstburg. The Riviere aux Canards, in French, or the Ta- 
ron-tec, in Indian parlance, is a sluggish and sedgy stream, which 
percolates the wide marshes in the rear country, and unites with the 
Detroit about five miles above Fort Maiden. This creek was crossed, 
near its mouth, by one of the make-shift bridges of the country. 
Here, on the 28th July, Col. Cass attacked an Indian scouting party, 
which, very properly, fell back, losing one Avarrior, whose body was 
scalped and otherwise disfigured. The Americans thereupon retired 
with their trophy — somewhat hastily, for they did not pause to de- 
stroy the bridge, which was re-occupied next day by the British, and 
was protected by two light field-pieces. Next day also re-appeared 
Colonel Cass, under the fostering wing of Colonel McArthur, — a 
strong reinforcement — and two guns. The bridge was attacked, 
two brave men of the 41st, outlying sentries, Privates Dean and 
Hancock, with that strange and dogged perversity so common 
among British soldiers, would neither retire nor give in. Hancock 
was killed — Dean wounded and taken piisoner. After some 
exchanges of cannon-shot, the Americans again retreated ; and an 
American writer declares " the escape of McArthur and his com- 
panions to have been truly miraculous."* The proclamation, which 
Hull had fathered, but which Cass had written, was found to be 
theatrical thunder : the Canadians would not revolt ; the Indians 
flocked to the British standard. At this moment the defeat of Van 
Home sounded like a knell. Hull was appalled. To cover his " base 
of supply," he thought it best to change his " base of operations ;" 
so, on the 7th and 8th of August, under the pretext of concentrating 
his forces, he withdrew himself and his army across the river, and 
resumed his occupation of Detroit. On the 0th, Proctor, apprised 
of llull's retreat, and relieved of all apprehension on his own part, 
with commendable promptitude determined to follow up his first 

• Thompson's Sketches of the War, quoted by James, Vol. II, p. 61. 



SKIRMISH AT MAGAGUA — MACINAW AND MICHIGAN. 43 

attempt upon Hull's line of supply, and detached Major Muir 
across the Detroit to intercept a much more considerable force and 
convoy en route to Fort Detroit. This expedition was not as suc- 
cessful as the preceding. Muir, with 100 regulars, 100 mihtia, 
and 250 Indians, found himself at Magagua in front of Col. Miller, 
a good officer, backed by the U. S. 4th Regt. of Infantry, a part 
of the 1st Infantry, some regular artillerymen, and 400 mihtia, 
— about 700 in all. Muir, with great judgment, bethought him of 
the paucity of the force on the other side of the river, and of the 
military policy which relinquishes a temporary credit for a future 
certainty, and so, ordered a retreat to his boats, which was safely 
effected. Muir and his subaltern Sutherland were both wounded ; 
the latter died shortly after. Two men were killed and nine 
disabled. In this action of Maguaga or Brownstown, the Ameri- 
cans, who held the ground on the retirement of the British and 
Indians, represent their own loss to have been 83 killed and 
wounded, and the Indian casualties at 100. The National Intel- 
ligencer, the American Government organ of the day, boastfully 
asserted that when the mihtia returned to Detroit from the battle 
of Brownstown they bore triumphantly on the points of their bay- 
onets between 30 and 40 fresh scalps, which they had taken on 
the field. As no mercy was shown to the redskins by the trappers 
and borderers who constituted the militia, and as scalps were much 
prized spoils, it may be presumed that the number of these trophies 
represented fairly the number of the Indians slain.* But this 
momentary reverse Avas of no benefit to Hull : Brock was on his 
track, and did not give him much time to deliberate. 

But again, during this interval, while Brock at York was pre- 
paring for his swoop in the West, and his lieutenants were haras- 
sing and retarding the game, the first British stroke of the war 
had been dehvered 250 miles to the north, at Michilimacinac, m 

• James, Vol. II, p. 6. 



44 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

the heart of what was then regarded as the Indian country. This 
island and fortress is situated at the northern extremity of Lake 
Huron, in the gorge of the Straits of Macinaw, and blocks the 
entrance to Lake Michigan. In those days it was regarded as a 
post of great importance. It is now the Gibraltar of that inland 
sea. It is strongly fortified, and makes of Lake Michigan a mare 
clausum, where, beyond the reach of treaty stipulations, or of 
hostile interruptions, armaments may be planned and matured 
safely, against the rear frontier of Canada. 

The vast territory surrounding this lake, now occvipied by the 
States of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, embellished 
by the cities of Chicago, Milwaukie, Grand Haven, and peopled by 
5,000,000 of inhabitants, was, fifty years since, a howling wilder- 
ness, the retreat and hunting-ground of savage tribes, whose tra- 
ditional treatment had taught them to put but little trust in the white 
man. AVith the American settlers their relations had been, for long, 
those of chronic collision and contest. The British had, upon an 
emergency, accepted the services of an ally whose ferocity they 
could not restrain, and of whose acts they were ashamed ; but if the 
British, in Indian estimation, had proved to be a cold and ungrate- 
ful friend, the Americans had never ceased to be a remorseless 
and grasping enemy. It is affectation to attempt to deny that at 
this crisis the Indian alliance was sought by both parties. Acci- 
dent and action combined to solve the diplomatic doubt l)y the 
weight of the British bayonet. It was well known how much 
the defence of the western frontier depended on the Indians. 
Great efforts had been made both by the British and Americans 
to secure the services of these uncertain and suspicious aux- 
iliaries. Here the British labored under great disadvantage. 
Defence, not defiance, was then, as noAv, their motto. The ]iolicy 
of the day was to discountenance the idea of war. An Indian 



CAPTURE OF MACINAW. 45 

alliance could only portend war. It was, at the same time, well 
known to those familiar with the Indian character, that the first 
successful blow struck in the west would attract the savage to the 
successful banner. Macinaw, as it is called for brevity, was an 
American military post in the heart of the Indian territory. Fort 
St. Joseph, a British post> established for the protection of the fur 
trade, was situated 40 miles north of Macinaw, at the debouchure 
of Lake Superior into the waters of Lake Huron. 

Captain Roberts, a brave and energetic officer, was in command 
at Fort St. Joseph. Brock had reinforced this post in the spring, 
and Roberts had received instructions which, although embar- 
rassed by the irregular and perplexing interference of Sir George 
Prevost at a later period, he had prepared himself to carry out. 
On the 4th July, Brock informed Roberts that war existed, and left 
bim to his own discretion.* Roberts had at hand a congenial spirit. 
The Agent of the Hudson's Bay Company was Toussaint Pothier, 
afterwards the Hon. Toussaint Pothier, M.L.C., of Montreal, a 
French Canadian gentleman, brave, gay, polite, ready for any 
exploit in court or camp. To him Roberts disclosed the informa- 
tion he had received, and the plan he had formed. " Pardieu, 
Monsieur," exclaimed the cliivalrous Frenchman, gyrating with 
delight, — and those who remember him can well imagine his glee, 
— " il faut frotter ces gens la bas, joliement." With such asso- 
ciates in an enterprise, little time was lost. To a force of 33 regu- 
lars was supplemented about 160 Canadian voyageurs, half-armed 
with fowling-pieces and old muskets. Two old iron three-pounders, 
which had been used for firing salutes and astonishing the natives, 
were put into requisition ; and accompanied by Pothier, who, 
like Clive in another hemisphere, had flung his pen under his desk 
and buckled on his hanger, Roberts embarked in a miscellaneous 

* Tupper's Life of Brock. 



46 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

flotilla of boats and canoes, attended by a small brig laden with 
stores. In the grey of the morning of the 17th July, while the 
legislators at Toronto were snoring in their beds, while the un- 
happy Hull was cogitating moodily at Sandwich, and the hero of 
Ta-ron-tee, having fluttered the wild-fowl in Duck Creek, had just 
retired victoriously, crowned with water-cresses, Roberts landed on 
Macinaw Island unmolested, got his two guns into a menacing 
position, disposed of his force ostentatiously, ordered his 33 regu- 
lars to the front, and bade Indians and half-breeds yell the war- 
whoop. At this summons, the American commander, who, to say 
the truth, was quite unprepared for an attack, felt it to be prudent 
to surrender his post, Avith about 75 regulars and a large quantity 
of military stores and valuable furs. It was the first intimation he 
had received of a state of war. This well-concerted and well- 
executed stroke was timely, and, in fact, invaluable. It secured 
the adhesion of the Indians. It disconcerted Hull, by exposing 
his rear, and was second only to the crowning exploit of the cam- 
paign, the capture of Detroit. 

Now came Brock's turn. No man kn6w better than he, the 
value of vigour in war, and that rapid oSence was often the best 
description of defence. Having dispatched at once the Legislature 
and all pressing public business, on the 6th August he left York, 
jttow Toronto, for Burlington Bay, and from thence proceeded by 
land to Long Point, "Point aux Pins" being the rendezvous,* 
speaking a word of counsel to the Mohawks on the Grand River by 
the way. At Long Point, he embarked with about 300 militia, all 
volunteers, and a few regulars, in the ordinary boats of the coun- 
try, and ran along a dangerous and unsheltered coast for 200 
miles, amid heavy rains and tempestuous weather, and exposed 
constantly to surprise, without losing a man. His constant super- 
intendence, forethought, and precaution, inspired his followers with 

* General Order, I2th August, Isaac Brock. 



BROCK CROSSES THE DETROIT RIVER. 47- 

unbounded confidence. After four days and nights of incessant 
exertion, the little squadron reached Amherstburg at midnight on / 
the 13th August ; Brock declaring, that " in no instance had he / 
seen troops who could have endured the fatigue of a long journey 
in boats, during exceeding bad weather, with greater cheerfulness 
and constancy ; and it is but justice to this little band to add that 
their conduct throughout excited my admiration." * 

Here Brock encountered Tecumseh, chief of the Shawanee 
Indians, — regarding whose character and fate more will be said 
hereafter. It is wonderful with what an instinctive perception of 
character these two men instantly took to each other. Brock 
descried at once the sagacity and intrepidity of the Shawanee 
chief. Tecumseh, in one of his glowing orations, apostrophizes 
Brock as the warrior who, " standing erect in the bow of his // 
canoe, led the way to battle." It reminds one of Caesar's standard- 
bearer launching himself upon the shores of Britain. The incident 
occurred in crossing the Detroit River two days after ; Brock 
exposing himself, not from ostentation (for liis courage was most 
unpretentious), but to win the confidence and rouse the enthu- 
siasm of his Indian allies. Brock concerted with Tecumseh the 
plan of his operations against Fort Detroit, The chief listened 
eagerly, with glistening eyes but undemonstrative attitude. He 
expressed his approbation with Indian brevity, and his readiness 
to act by a gesture. Brock asked him, " Could the Shawanees be 
induced to refrain from spirits ?" Tecumseh answered that 
" Before leaving their wigwams on the Wabash, they had vowed 
not to touch rum till they had humbled the " Big Knives," mean- 
ing the Americans. Brock remarked, " Adhere to this resolution 
and you must conquer." 

Brock acted with promptitude and vigor. The correspondence 
of the American army had come into his hands by the defeat of 

• General Order, Amherstburg, 14th August, Isaac Brock. 



48 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

Van Home, on the 4th August. The despatches of General "Hull 
disclosed his own misgivings and the demoralized state of the 
army under his command. Brock saw the opportunity, and grasped 
at it, at once. With a force of the most miscellaneous character, 
not half the numerical strength of the enemy, he determined to 
cross the river Detroit, and beard him in his den. On the 15th 
Auo-ust, he summoned Hull to surrender. The latter took two 
hours to consider the invitation, and declined it. That night 
Tecumseh crossed the river with about 600 warriors, and occupied 
the roads and woods below Detroit, intercepting the American 
communications. The spot selected for landing was Springwell, 
four miles below the fort, on the only American line of retreat. 
The river at this point is about three-fourths of a mile Avide, deep 
and strong. Before daybreak on the 16th, the force under Brock, 
consisting of 330 regulars and 400 militia, -with four light pieces 
of artillery, crossed the river, and advanced upon the fort. He 
was flanked upon the left by the Indians in the woods, and on 
the right by a small vessel of war, the Queen Charlotte. Brock 
led on rapidly. He had taken the measure of his foe, and 
knew that daring was the best title to success. " Of the force at 
his disposal," says Armstrong, the American Secretary of War, 
" four hundred were Canadian Militia, disguised in red coats."* 
The sequel proved the imitation not to have been a bad one. The 
York Volunteers, under Hatt, Howard, Bostwick, and Robinson, the 
men who hud escorted Brock to Amherstburg, thrown out fis skir- 
mishers, were well forward in the front. Astonished by the vigor 
of the advance, and perhaps disconcerted by the unearthly out- 
cries of the Indians, the Americans abandoned an outpost, well 
placed, strongly pickctted, and defended by two 24-pounders, and 
retreated into the main fort. Preparations were made for an 
assault, wlien suddenly, was seen to emerge from the works, an 

• Armstrong, Vol. I, p. 36. 



SURRENDER OF FORT DETROIT. 49 

officer bearing a flag of truce. Brigadier-General Hull had 
resolved to capitulate, and proposed a cessation of hostilities. 
Articles were formalized then and there, under which the whole 
Michigan Territory, Fort Detroit, a ship of war, 33 pieces of cannon, 
stores to correspond, and military chest, 2500 troops, and one 
stand of colors were surrendered to the British, who, thereupon, 
betook themselves to dinner. The first act of Brock on entering 
the fort was to release from captivity Dean, the gallant private of 
the 41st, who behaved so nobly at the Ta-ron-tee. He sent for the 
man at once, and shook hands with him cordially, in front of the 
whole force.* 

The surrender of Detroit electrified all Canada. It was the 
first enterprise in which the Militia had been engaged, and the 
courage and success of their Volunteers animated and encouraged 
all. No more was there of doubting or of wavering ; disaflfection 
slunk out of sight. Brock became the idol of Upper Canada ; and 
no man ever, by his dauntless example, both moral and physical, 
and by effecting much with small means, had more honestly won 
the homage of a people. 

* Mem. : Col. A. McLean. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Brock provides for the safety of his conqupst and returns to York — Ur<^cnt for action — 
Controlled by an armistice between Sir George I'revost and General Dearborn. Sir 
George at Quebec. Energy of the Lower Canada Legislature — Provide money — Pro- 
vide men. The Americans threaten Montreal — Kiagara. Detroit. Inroad at Gana- 
noque. Affair at Ogdensburg. Brock returns to the Niagara frontier. Van Ranselaer 
and the Militia— Crazy for a dash. Capture of the Detroit and Caledonia off Fort 
Erie. Military ardour of the New York Volunteers uncontrollable. Van Kanselaer 
resolves to cross the Niagara frontier. Queenstown Heights. Battle 13th October — 
Death of Brock and Macdonald — Arrival of Sheaffe— Final victory — Surrender by Scott, 
John Beverley Kobinson. Brock's funeral. Scott and the savages. 

On, — on again, with the gallant Brock and his fortunes, for on 
the fortunes of that noble man liung the fate of Upper Canada, still 
threatened by overwhelming numbers on the Niagara frontier and 
on that of the St. Lawrence. It was Avell known at the time, that 
the demonstrations on Lower Canada were a feint to hamper Sir 
George Pre vest and retard supplies, and that the strength of the 
enemy had been thrown on the Upper Province. On the Niagara 
frontier they had accumulated in great force. The indisposi- 
tion of the Eastern States for the war, and the tendency of the 
democratic malady to French hallucinations, had preserved to the 
Lower Canadians the privilege of being the last to be devoured. 

After providing for the security of his conquest, and re-assuring 
the sparse population of Michigan by a Proclamation, confirming to 
them their property and the enjoyment of their laws and religion. 
Brock sailed on the 22nd August in the schooner Chippewa for the 
Niagara frontier. 

We may well imagine the patriotic thoughts and high aspira- 
tions which at this time thronged the active and vigorous mind of 
this thorough soldier. Ilis correspondence with liis brother tells 



RETURN OF BROOK TO NIAGARA — ARMISTICE. 51 

the tale in his own cheery and modest way.* He knew that he 
was surrounded. An unconscious hon in the toils, he had torn the 
meshes to atoms in one direction, and beheld with fearless eye the 
fire and the steel in his rear, and on his flank. He would neutral- 
ize numbers by activity and vim. In one week he would have 
swept the whole American frontier from Buffalo to Fort Niagara ; 
he would have dispersed the reluctant and imperfect levies there 
formed, and have destroyed the then insufficient armaments. 
Such a blow, struck at that time, would have pacified that frontier 
averted two years of desolation and misery, and have secflred for 
nobler deeds his own invaluable life. Nor was this all. This blow 
was to have been followed up by a stroke at Sackett's Harbour, 
the standing menace to Central Canada, just then wakening into 
armed life, and pregnant with so much of annoyance and humiliar 
tion in after years. By the middle of September the enemy would 
have been anticipated at every point, and Upper Canada would 
have been safe. Rough lessons such as these might have incul- 
cated reason, and the war itself would have collapsed. 

Such, or like unto these, were the patriotic plans of Brock 
when, on the waters of Lake Erie, conveyed by the British armed 
schooner The Lady Prevost, he encountered the demon of obstruc- 
tion in the shape of an armistice. The British Orders in Council 
the ostensible cause of the war, had been revoked by an Order in 
Council of the 23rd June, seven days after war had been declared 
by Congress ; and so impressed was the British government with a 
firm belief in American moderation, and in the peaceful efficacy of 
the remedy exhibited, that on receipt of the intelUgence they 
merely directed that " American ships and goods should be brought 
in and detained until further orders," f and "forbore from issuing 



* Life and Correspondence of Brock, p. 102. 

t Vide Orders in Council, October 13, 1812, and 23 June, 1812. 



62 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

letters of marque and reprisal, under expectation that the United 
States would, upon notification of the Order in Council of the 
23rd June, forthwith recall the said declaration of war." This 
hopeful credulity clogged their own movements and those of their 
subordinates, and nearly proved fatal to Canada. Prevost, pacific 
by nature, and bound by the pacific instructions of the Imperial 
government, on learning the repeal of the Orders in Council, pre- 
sumed Mr. Madison to be as pacific as himself, and proposed to 
General Dearborn, chief on the northern frontier, an armistice, 
which, in terms and operation, was as useful to the enemy as it 
was unfavourable to us, and which all but neutralized the moral 
effect of the victories which had been achieved in the west. It 
gave the enemy time to breathe, to think, to transport stores and 
reinforcements unmolested, and, when it had served their turn, 
was repudiated by the President. It admitted of the removal of 
nine fine vessels from Ogdensburg — removed from under the guns 
of Fort WelHngton at Prescott — to Sackett's Harbour, and gave 
Commodore Chauncey that ascendency on Lake Ontario which 
enabled him subsequently to destroy Little York.* Brock urgently 
renewed his instances. He was then at Kingston. " Attack Sack- 
ett's Harbour from hence. With our present naval superiority, it 
must fall. The troops at Niagara will be recalled for its protec- 
tion. While they march, we sail ; and before they can return, the 
whole Niagara frontier will be ours." In reply, Brock received 
peremptory orders from Sir George Prevost to do nothing ; to remain 
on the defensive and not provoke the enemy. It is just to believe 
that in doing this, the Governor General but obeyed the peremptory 
and painful orders of his superiors. Within his own sphere he had been 
prompt and energetic. He had convened the Legislature of Lower 



• Nflrrativo of Simon Van Ranselacr, Lieut.-Col., A.D.C. to Gen. Van 
Ranselaer, Niagara. 



FORAY ON GANANOQUE — ATTEMPT ON OGDENSBUEG. 53 

Canada on the first rumour of war, and had obtained from them 
cordial support.* They indorsed his " Army Bills" to the extent 
of 11,000,000, and they voted 160,000 for five years, to meet the 
interest and expenses. By a preceding Act of May of the same 
year they had authorized the embodiment of 2000 militiamen, and 
in the event of Avar, the calhng out of the whole militia force of 
the Province, and measures had been energetically taken to give 
efiect to this legislation. 

" A cordon was formed along the frontier of Lower Canada from 
the Yamaska to St. Regis, where the line of separation between 
the United States and Canada touches the St. Lawrence, con- 
sisting of Canadian Voltigeurs and part of the embodied Militia. 
A light brigade of elite, regulars and militia, was formed at Blair- 
findie, under the command of Lieut. Col. Young of the 8th 
Regt., consisting of the flank companies of the 8th, 100th, and 
103rd Regts., with the Canadian Fencibles, the flank companies of 
the 1st Batt. of Embodied Militia, and a small brigade of the 
Royal Artillery with six field-pieces.f 

" On the Montreal frontier the road to the United States from 
the camp at L'Acadie through Burtonville and Odeltown was ren- 
dered impracticable by abattis. The Voltigeurs, with extraordi- 
nary perseverance, effected this fatiguing duty in short time, under 
the superintendence of their commanding officer. Major de Sala- 
berry.J 

" On the other hand, the Americans augmented their prepara- 
tions rapidly, and Gen. Dearborn threatened Montreal with inva- 
sion by St. Johns and Odeltown. Their force at Niagara and on 
the Niagara frontier, under Brig.-Gen. Van Ranselaer, was already 
formidable, and afibrded good ground of apprehension to Gen. 
Brock of a speedy irruption from that quarter ; while Gen. Har- 

* 16th July, 1812. f Christie, Vol. II, p. 40. % Ibid. 



54 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

rison was actively employed in collecting an army at the river 
Raisin, near Detroit, from Ohio and Kentucky. The naval estab- 
lishment at Sackett's Harbour in the meantime increased with 
celerity, and the ascendency of their fleet on Lake Ontario was, by 
the indefatigable exertions of Commodore Chauncey, now almost 
established." * 

Two insignificant affairs occurred on the Upper St. Lawrence, 
this early autumn, but little creditable to either party. Capt. 
Forsyth with 150 riflemen crossed from the American side (on the 
9th September) to Gananoque, where he fluttered the turkeys, 
captured a few old muskets, woimded the wife of a militia officer 
who kept a store there, burnt the building and its contents, and 
returned home with a good deal of predatory exultation. 

JEti revanche^ and provoked by frequent interruptions of his con- 
voys from Montreal, Col. Lethbridge, in command at Prcscott, at- 
tempted a descent on Ogdensburg, opposite, in open day. He pushed 
off, on the 4th October, in the forenoon, with a force of 750 regulars 
and militiamen, in 25 batteaux, escorted by two gun-boats. They 
were received by a heavy fire of artillery, boats Avere struck and 
sunk, some disabled, all fell into confusion. The flotilla dropped 
down the stream out of fire, and returned whence they came, with 
three men killed and four wounded. It was a rash and unauthor- 
ized enterprise, ill-concerted, and led with more of courage than 
conduct. 

Brock, chafing but obedient, had returned to Niagara. He 
writes thence to his brother, 18th September 1812: "A river 
about 500 yards wide divides the troops. My instructions oblige 
me to adopt defensive measures, and I have evinced greater for- 
bearance than was ever practised on any former occasion. It is 
thought that without the aid of the sword the American people 



• Christie, Vui. 11, p. 40, 



AMERICAN PREPARATIONS — QUEENSTON HEIGHTS. 55 

maj be brought • to a due sense of their own interest. I firmly 
believe that I could at this moment sweep everything before me 
between Fort Niagara and Buffalo. . . . The militia, being 
principally composed of enraged democrats, are more ardent and 
anxious to engage, but they have neither subordination nor disci- 
pline. They die very fast. It is certainly singular that we should 
be two months in a state of warfare, and that along this widely 
extended frontier not a single death, either natural or by the 
sword, should have occurred among the troops under my command, 
and we have not been altogether idle, nor has a single desertion 
taken place." * 

The " enraged democrats " at length brought things to a crisis. 
The American leaders had assembled on the Niagara frontier, — 
36 miles in length from Buffalo to Fort Niagara — a force of about 
6,000 men. A large number consisted of militia, of whom Col. 
Baines, having encountered them on his official visit to Gen. Dear- 
bom, says to Brock : " I found a very general prejudice prevail- 
ing with Jonathan of his own resources and means of invading 
these Provinces, and of our weakness and inability to resist, both 
exaggerated in a most absurd and extravagant degree." * 

These paladins, with little discipline, and no subordination, 
exhibited great impatience at what they were pleased to term, the 
dilatoriness of their officers, in not " clearing out the British fron- 
tier right off," and their impetuosity was greatly sharpened by a 
successful exploit on the part of Lieut. Elliott of the American 
Navy, who was then engaged at Black Rock in fitting for service 
an anned schooner. This officer, backed by 100 good seamen, in 
the early morning of the 9th October, boarded and carried, off 
Fort Erie, the brig of war Detroit, and the private brig Caledonia, 
laden with stores and spoils from Amherstburg. This feat, which was 

• Brock Correspondence, p. 108. 



56 CHKONICLE OF THE WAR. 

well and gallantly done, could never have been attempted, ha J not 
Brock, at an earlier period, been restricted to defensive measures. 
Black Rock and its batteries would have disappeared, and the 
aimed vessel Elliott had in hand, would have been in ours, or in 
flames. As it was, the Detroit grounded and was destroyed, but 
the eclat of the exploit turned the heads of the gallant militia, and 
they insisted, incontinently, either to be led to victory or to go 
home. 

General Van Ranselaer, who commanded the whole force, was 
manifestly under the impression that a good deal of glory was to 
be got at small risk, and was unwilling to allow the glittering prize 
to slip through his fingers. He had been infoi-med by a deceitful 
spy, that Brock had left for the Detroit frontier. He resolved 
therefore, on the adventure. On the morning of the 11th October, 
an attempt was made, but failed. Boats were wanting — oars were 
deficient — it rained hard, and the general prospect was disagree- 
able. The attack on Queenston heights was, in consequence, 
deferred to the 13th. 

There is not on this continent a more imposing situation or a 
lovelier scene, than is presented from the noble plateau immortalized 
as Queenston Heights. Rising in rich undulation from the alluvial 
shore, which, at a distance of seven miles, subsides into Lake 
Ontario, they form the height of land through which, for twenty 
miles back, the river and catai*act of Niagara cleave their resist- 
less way. They trend away westerly until they reach Hamilton, 
and constitute the great embankment which dams back the superin- 
cumbent watei"S of Lake Erie. The approach to tlie heights from 
the village of Queenston is strikingly beautiful. It reminds an 
Englishman of the grassy glades and hanging woods of his native 
land. An ascent of 250 feet, tortuous and bi-oken, is now crowned 
by a grand column of buif sandstone, artistically designed, and not 
unworthy of the memory which Canada reveres. Bixwk's monument 



PASSAGE OF THE NIAGARA — STRUGGLE AT LANDING. 57 

is a credit to the taste and gratitude of the country. From the summit 
the eye commands a varied landscape of woodland and farm land, of 
umbrageous forest and rich cultivation — of village and of villa — 
church spire and cosy homestead — the blue Ontario in the distance, 
flecked with sails ; such as may well gladden the hearts of those 
under whose eye the land has grown, and make them glory in the flag, 
emblematic of the system, which fosters and protects it. The noble 
river, boiling, rushing, eddying, — which, 500 yards wide, rushes 
through the gorge at the right hand side of the spectator, now 
spanned by a gossamer bridge, 800 feet of wire tracery, — sepa- 
rates, as with a barrier of steel, the " clearings " of experiment 
from the domain of experience — the United States from British 
territory. On that rich October morning, glowing with the gorgeous 
tints of the autumnal foliage, and softened by the mellow haze of 
the first flush of the Indian summer, how attractive must have 
been that lovely scene to the eye of the American invader, 

Baptized in molten gold and swathed in dun. 

In the early morning, before day broke, the desperate few, the 
" forlorn hope," had manned the first boats, and under the com- 
mand of Colonel Van Ranselaer, gained the Canadian shore. 
The force there stationed consisted of two companies of the 
49th and about 200 of the York militia. One 18-pounder gim 
was in position, on a spm' of the heights, and a carronade leaked 
the river from a point about a mile below. The American force, 
covered by the fire of two eighteen pounders, and two field 
pieces from their own side, efiected a landing with little loss. 
One officer was slain in the boats by a ball from the gun at 
the point. More troops and some mihtia-men crossed, until about 
1,300 men were in line, and in front of them the British outposts. 
The resistance made was desperate ; the assailants were as resolute. 
The voices of the American officers could be heard above the rattle 



58 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

of the musketry with the cry of " On men ! on I for the honour of 
America." The reply, again, was a dogged cheer, and the rattle of 
musketry. In a short time, Coh Van Ranselaer was desperately 
wounded in four places. Good men and officers had fallen around 
him. The captains commanding the 49th companies had both fallen 
wounded. The fire of the 18-pounder was of no avail in that part 
of the field. It would have been more fatal to friend than to foe. 
At this moment Brock rode up. Awakened at daybreak by the 
firing, and fully anticipating attack, he called for his good horse 
Alfred, and, followed by his staff, galloped up from Fort George. 
He passed without drawing rein, through the village, reached the 
18-pounder battery, dismounted, and was covering the field through 
his telescope, when a fire Avas opened on the rear of the field work 
from a height above, which had been hardily gained durmg this 
brief mterval by Captain Wool and a detachment of American 
regulars, up an almost inaccessible fisherman's path. The volley 
was promptly followed by a rush ; Brock and his suite had no time 
to remount; they quickly retired with the twelve men who mamied 
the battery. There was neither space, nor time, nor thought, for 
generalship — all was sheer fighting. Williams of the 49th, with 
a detachment of 100 strong, charged up the hill agamst Wool's men, 
who were repelled, but reinforced, charged again ; notwithstanding 
whicli " in the struggle which ensued the whole were driven to the 
edge of the bank." * Here, with the storming foe before them, a 
precipice of 180 feet behind, and the roaring Niagara beneath, some 
craven spirit (juailed — an attcmi)t was made to raise the white flag — 
Wool tore it down and tram[»kMl it under foot. The re-inspired regulars 
opened a scathing fire of musketry ; Brock Avho, in front, roused 
beyond himself, had forgotten the general in the soldier, conspicuous 
by his height, dress, gesture and undaunted bearing, was pointing to 

• Wool's letter to Van Ranselaer, Bullalo, October 23, 1812. 



DEATH OF BROCK — ADVANCE OF SHEAFFE. 59 

the hill, and had just shouted " Push on the brave York Volun- 
teers," when he was struck by a ball in the right breast, which passed 
throuo-h his left side. He fell. His last words were, that his death 
should be concealed from his men, and that his remembrance should 
be borne to his sister. Thus fell, and thus died a brave soldier, an 
able leader, and a good man, who honoured by his life and ennobled 
by his death the soil on which he bled, and whose name remains, 
ever beloved and respected, a household word and a household 
memory in Canada. 

Shortly after, McDonell, his Aide-de-Camp, a Lieut.-Colonel of 
MUitia, and Attorney-General for Upper Canada, obeying the last 
behest of his chief, leading on the " brave York Volunteers " and 
breasting the hill on horseback, was struck from his saddle. He 
died next day, and, regardless of self, liis last thoughts were with his 
departed commander and friend. 

The charge of the Volunteers had compelled the enemy to spike 
the 18 pounder and retire ; but at this moment, the best officers 
and bravest men down on both sides, and the rest exhausted, a lull 
took place in the fighting. The Americans retained the hill, with 
the precipice at their backs ; the British retired under cover of the 
houses on the outskirts of the village. Both parties looked for 
reinforcements. 

As has been before remarked, the Americans occupied at this 
time a position full of peril. Though Wool had received an acces- 
sion of force, their number was unequal to the adventure, and they 
were cooped up on the brow of the hill, with their foe in front, whose 
strength they knew must increase, and the beetling precipice and 
the boiling river in their rear. Nothing could save them but a 
retreat, or large reinforcements. The first expedient was im- 
practicable. The reinforcements were within sight, within call, yet 
denied then- aid. The " enraged democrats " had abated all their 
savagery. The men, a few days before, so desperate to do or die, 



60 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

quailed at tlie sight of danger, and urged qualms of conscience 
and constitutional scruples as a plea for their poltroonery. Canada 
forsooth was not New York State, and they could not lawfully 
risk their precious Uves, except in defence of their native soil. 
The brave men on the opposite hill-side were, therefore, left to 
their fate. 

On the other hand. General Sheaffe, who commanded at Fort 
George, had, under instructions from Sir Isaac Brock, got his 
men together on the first alarm. With about 300 regulars of the 
41st and 49th regiments, two companies of Lincoln militia, and a 
handful of Indians, he had followed rapidly to the scene of the 
conflict. He took the road from Newark to St. Davids, which 
enabled him to debouch on the heights about two miles to the west 
of Queenston. He heard, on his way, of the fall of Brock, and 
pushed on the more eagerly, to avenge his death and retrieve the 
day. With all his speed, marching through roads such as they 
then were, he could not reach the Plateau long before noon. Here 
he was reinforced by Norton, and Brant the younger, Indian chiefs, 
and a body of their followers, and by about 200 volunteer militia 
men from Chippewa, making the whole force equal to 800 men. 
It will be seen, at once, that the invaders were surrounded, 
their backs to the river and to their own recreant countrymen, 
Queenston with its defenders breathing vengeance on their 
right, and Sheaffe on their front and left flank. Gradually and 
systematically, the fatal semicircle of fire and steel narrowed 
and thickened. Wool, who had bravely done his best, was down 
with wounds. Scott, who has since filled so large a place in the 
history of his country, succeeded him, and not unworthily. The 
Americans fought on manfully, but hopelessly. Tiic fatal semi- 
circle narrowed more and more — a volley here — scattered shots 
there — amid the wild yell of the Indian, the shout of tlie soldier, the 
ghrick of the wounded, the hoarse word of command, — amid smoke 



AMERICAN RESISTANCE — SIR JOHN BEVERLY ROBINSON. 61 

and dust, and tumult, and groans and execration, the last vengeful 
rush was made, and every living American swept from the summit 
of that blood-stained hill. 

Of the survivors, part scrambled down by the path they had 
ascended, part clinging to rocks and shrubs endeavoured to escape, 
but the lithe Indian proved the better cragsman, and the descent 
was fearfully accelerated. Many were dashed to pieces : many 
drowned — two men were seen to strip deliberately, and take to the 
whirling river, remarking significantly, that they might as well 
be drowned as hanged. Here, on the rocky selvage, at the 
foot of overhanging cliffs, unarmed and defenceless, the remainder 
assembled and, at once, resolved to surrender.* Scott, accompanied 
by Captains Totten and Gibson, with Totten's cravat attached to 
his sword point, not without great danger from the infuriate savages, 
emerged from the rocks, near where the Suspension Bridge now 
stands, and meeting a British picket, were conducted to General 
Sheaffe. Short was the parley between men in their condition, and 
a commander in Avhose hands were life and safety. Major-General 
Wadsworth and about 1,100 American officers and soldiers surren- 
dered, unconditionally, prisoners of war. The American loss by 
bullet, steel, and flood, had been near 400 men. 

Among the present residents, whom the fortunes of peace 
have cast on our frontier, is one John McCarthy, who served in 
the American regulars at the battle of Queenston heights. He 
now lives between old Newark (Niagara) and Queenston. He 
relates that, in preparation for the last assault of the British, the 
American officers caused their men to load and lie down, with 
the order not to rise or fire a shot until they " got the word." 
Twenty men were detailed at intervals in the rear, with pieces 
loaded, and directions openly given, to shoot down any man disobey- 

* Mansfield's Life of Scott, p. 48 ; Stone's Life of Brant, Vol. II, p. 512. 



62 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

ing tlie first order. He states that the British Avere within forty 
yards before the word came, that the volley was instantaneous and 
fatal, but never stopped the rush, which cleared the hill like chaflF 
before a gust of wind. 

The British force engaged during the day consisted of the 
remnants of the two companies of the 49th attacked in the 
morning who had been bravely sustained by Cameron's, How- 
ard's, and Cliisholm's companies of the York militia. Sheaffe 
brought to their support 380 of the 41st. Crook's and McEwen's 
flank companies of the 1st Lincoln ; Nellies and W. Crook's 
companies of the 4th Lincoln, Hale's, Durand's, and Applegate's 
companies of the 5th Lincoln, Major Merritt's yeomanry corps, 
and a party of Sway'zee's militia artillery. Colonel Clark of 
the militia came up from Chippewa with Capt. ' Derinzys' and 
Bullock's company of the 41st, Capt. R. Hamilton and Stone's 
flank companies of the 2nd Lincoln and Volunteer Sedentary 
mihtia. Young Norton, Brant the younger, and about 60 Mo- 
hawks. A company of colored men under Captain Runchey was 
on the ground, and did good service. The whole force at the close 
of the day did not exceed one thousand rank and file. Of this 
number about 80 Avere killed and wounded, Indians included. 

The British had been greatly exasperated by the fatal event of 
the morning. The men of Lincoln and the " brave York Volun- 
teers " Avith "Brock" on their \\\)S and revenge in their hearts, 
had joined in the last desperate charge, and among the foremost, 
foremost ever found, was John Beverly Robinson, a U. E. Loyalist, 
a lawyer from Toronto, and not the worse soldier for all that. His 
light, compact, agile figure, handsome face, and eager eye, were 
long proudly remembered by those wh<» had witnessed his conduct in 
the field, and who loved to dwell on those traits of chivalrous loy- 
alty, energetic talent and sterling worth which, in after years, and 
in a happier sphere, elevated him to the position of Chief Justice 



FUNERAL OF BROCK — SCOTT AND THE SAVAGES. 63 

of the Province, and to the rank of an English Baronet. The 
late lamented death of Sir John Beverly Robinson, Bart., and C. B,, 
demands, as an homage to the grief of Canada, this passing tribute 
to his memory. Bright names hallow story as well as song. 

Thus terminated this remarkable contest. It has been the practice 
of all writers, with pardonable partiahty, so far to identify Brock 
with Queenston heights, as to make his name inseparable from the 
victory ; but, honor to whom honor is justly due, and Brock was 
the last man to deny it to an old friend who had fought by his 
side in the 49th, in many a stricken field. The battle was won by 
Sheaffe — a U. E. Loyalist, born in Boston, who had served the king 
from the days of Bunker Hill. Brock lost his life early in the 
morning — the fight flagged in consequence — was re-fought, and 
won by Sheaffe at 3 in the afternoon. Sheaffe was rewarded for 
his success by a Baronetcy. Brock died unconscious of the honors 
he had earned. On the day of his death, at the foot of Queenston 
heights, the guns of the Tower of London proclaimed his victory at 
Detroit. He had been made a Knight of the most honourable 
order of the Bath. His banner and his spurs were laid upon his 
tomb. Like a wreath of '.' immortelles," they cover a sohtary name, 
" alone in its glory." Brock died unmarried. His remains were 
interred with those of his Provincial Aide-de-Camp, Col. McDonell, 
at Fort George, in a cavaHer bastion which had been constructed 
under his superintendence. On the erection of the column to his 
memory at Queenston heights, they were removed, and rest there. 
The soldier who commanded at the American fort, Niagara, on the 
occasion of the funeral, hoisted his flag half mast, and fired minute 
guns during the ceremony, shot for shot with our own.* 

•It may be pardoned to the pen which traces these lines, if it is inspired by 
something of an hereditary interest in the events narrated. The chief mourner 
at the funeral of Brock was General Sheaffe. Two of the pall bearers were 
Lieut.-Colonel CofBn, Provincial Aide de Camp, and James Coffin, Esquire, 
Deputy Assistant Commissary General, both uncles to the writer. As General 



ti CHRONICLE OP THE WAR. 

A picturesque incident of tliis semi'Savage warfare is related. Col. 
Scott, by his stature and intrepidity during the day, had attracted 
the particular attention of the Indian Chieftains. Fortune favour- 
ed him so far, that his escape was ascribed to some peculiar 
*' medicine," or to witchcraft. On the evening of the day of the 
surrender, Scott was dining with General SheaflFe, when a messenger 
came from persons without, who wished to speak with the " tall 
American." Scott rose, with a jocular observation, and pro- 
ceeded into the narrow entrance, where he found himself confront- 
ed by two Indians, Jacob Norton and Brant the younger. 
The latter in English, rapidly questioned him " as to his wounds," 
" balls through his clothes," " they had fired at him all day 
without effect." The former somewhat rudely took the Colonel 
by the arm, as if to turn him round for inspection. Scott 
indignantly flung the intruder from him, exclaiming " Hands off, 
you scoundrel: you shot Uke a squaw." The Indian blood was 
roused instantaneously, knives and tomahawks were drawn. Scott 
grasped his sword, but the odds were against him in a narrow pas- 
sage, when, in at the door way stepped Colonel Coffin, Provincial 
Aide-de-Camp to General Sheaffe, who seeing things at a glance, 
drew a pistol and put it to Norton's head, calling for assistance, 
which in one moment was on the spot from the room behind. The 
Indian Chiefs, recovering from their sudden gust of passion, and 
abashed by their own violence, slowly dropped their arms, and 
retired. The officer to whom Scott possibly owed his life was then 
Aide-de-Camp to the General, and on the 14th January following, 
was appointed Deputy Adjutant General of the militia of Upper 
Canada, which post he filled with universal respect, for twenty-four 
years.* 

SlieafTc bad married their sister, and was their first cousin, bis name is added, 
with, it is believed, a not ignoble pride, to the familiar record of men who— all 
U. E. Loyalists — had served their king and country truly in times of trial. 
• Mansfield's Life of Scott, p. 47 ; Stone's Life of Brant, Vol. II, p. 214. 



CHAPTER V. 

Armistice between Sheaffe and Van Ken,«elaer. Eastern frontier — Affair at St. Kegis. " Cap» 
ture of a stand of colors "—Ketaliation. Hard frost below— rieasaiit weather west. 
American squadron and Commodore Earle. Gallant exploit of the Canadian schooner 
Simcoe. Chauncey and Captain Brock. Armistice between Smyth and Sheaffe termi- 
nated. Descent on Canadian frontier. Americans repulsed. Fort Erie summoned. 
Bishop wont give up. Smyth retires into winter quarters, and goes south. United 
States disunited on the war— Canada unanimous. Sufferings and spirit of the people. 
Loyal and I'atiiotic Society. 

It is unfortunate that Sheaffe, if his own master, should have 
marred the fair proportions of his success bj an armistice which has 
given rise to much animadversion. He apparently might, and if he- 
could, he ouglit to have crossed the river forthwith, and to have 
swept the coast of the renegade crew Avho had disgraced our com- 
mon manhood, and the Niagara frontier, on both sides, Avould have 
been spared much of future evil. Brock, as he got into his saddle 
on the morning of his death, had ordered Major Evans of the 8th 
Regt., who remained in command at Fort George, to open fire on Fort 
Niagara, directly opposite, and so effectually was the order obeyed, 
that, in a short time, the place was dismantled and abandoned, and 
might easily have been taken possession of the following day. But it 
should be kept in mind, that Sheaffe had to protect a frontier of 
36 miles with about 1500 men — that he had on the other side 
6000 opposed to liim ; that in assailing the enemy's frontier he 
exposed his own to superior numbers at remote points, and that a 
failure on his part would have been a sacrifice of the successes gained, 
would have opened the road to Burlington Heights and York, would 
have thrown the enemy in Proctor's rear, and have endangered the 
safety of the Province. Independent of the rashness of an advance, 
there were in favour of an armistice many substantial grounds. 



&Q CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

As before said he was weak, in face of an enemy superior in'num- 
bers, and embarrassed bj a crowd of prisoners, whom he had to 
guard as well as feed. He expected reinforcements, the safe and 
speedy arrival of which would change the aspect of affairs. It Is 
obvious too, that he acted under unseen pressure, and that, in this 
respect, he was not his own master. Temporizing was the govern- 
ment " order of the day ;" Sir George Pre vest had imposed it upon 
Brock, he in his turn had impressed it upon Proctor in the west, 
and Sheaffe, with soldierly subordination, did as he understood.* 
Sir George Prevost disapproved of this armistice when reported to 
him ; but the British ministry, as Sir George said, had " ham- 
pered the contest with strange infatuation," and it cannot be 
wondered at, that absorbed in a vast life-and-death struggle in 
Europe, they prayed to be ridded, by any concession, of the wor- 
riment of a petite guerre in America. On the spot, and in our 
own view of our own interests, we see things in a larger and truer 
point of view ; and it should be kept in mind that the propriety of 
the armistice was never questioned in England. 

The Americans were nothing daunted by this reverse. To the 
popular eye, the disaster at Queenston heights read as a success. 
The authorities, as well as the writers of the day, spoke of the death 
of Brock, as they now do of the fall of Stonewall Jackson, as 
equivalent to a victory. It has even been contended that the 
temporary tenure of the crest of the hill, up to the arrival of 
the reinforcements under Sheaffe, was in itself a victory. The 
British held the Redan in front of Sebastopol for two hours, 
before they retired, and yet it may be doubted if any American 
writer would admit this honourable feat of desperate valour to be 
a success. 

But successes of another and unexpected character — suc- 
cesses on the ocean, to be enlarged upon hereafter, had, at this 



* Life and Correspondence of Brock, Tupper, p. 116. 



TEMPORIZING POLICY AMERICAN COMPLACENCY. 67 

critical moment, elated the mind of the government and people, 
and imparted an immense impulse to the national energies. The 
reluctant good sense of the country was drowned in the general 
intoxication. The government urged on with vigour its preparations 
for further invasion. Late as the season was, they had calculated 
to take Canada at a disadvantage, when hermetically sealed by 
winter from extraneous help ; and, to impart to the tragedy, which 
had been enacted amid the melodramatic scenery of Niagara, its 
due proportion of farce, they appointed one General Smyth to the 
command. This gentleman was the Bombastes Furioso of the day. 
In proclamations he stands unrivalled. Never was there " a most 
noble army " more " bethumped by words," — but his exploits 
appear to have been limited by phrases. 

Leaving General Smyth to apostrophize his " Hearts of War," 
in front of General Sheaffe, we will proceed to the New York fron- 
tier of Lower Canada, where General Dearborn had assembled 
10,000 men, and from Plattsburg menaced Montreal. But the French 
Canadian militia, like the dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus, sprang to 
arms ; the land bristled with bayonets. Major de Salaberry, in the 
infancy of his fame, had the command of the outposts, and, under 
his inspiration, these undisciphned levies speedily showed that they 
were too mucli in earnest to be trifled with. After some parade 
of demonstration, on the 20th November, an attack was made on a 
picket at LacoUe, by a force from Champlain Town. The picket 
consisted of frontier militia and a few Indians under Col. McKay, 
of the North West Company, who had borne the news of the war to 
Mackinac, had returned to Montreal, to throw himself into the field 
at the head of his Indians, and who, in 1814, performed services 
still more important in the capture of Prairie du Chien on the 
Mississippi.* This gentleman so handled his small force, that the 

• Col. William McKay was father of Robert McKay, Esq., an eminent advo- 
cate of Montreal. 



68 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

enemy, in the dark, fired upon their own people, kilhng several, 
and then, much disconcerted, fell back on Champlain Town, from 
whence they came ; and thereupon Dearborn, in deference to the 
mandates of climate, retired into winter quarters. 

On our way back from the Plattsburg-Montreal section of the 
international frontier, we will touch at the Indian village of St. 
Re ""is where the line 45° strikes the St. Lawrence. It is the 
westernmost, and extreme point of the frontier between Lower 
Canada and the State of New York. The Upper Province on the 
north shore of the St. Lawrence and Lakes had been formed into 
three military divisions — left, centre, and right — the left extending 
upwards from the old French fort of Coteau du Lac, up the Une of 
the St. Lawrence, included Kingston. The centre embraced York 
and the Peninsula of Niagara ; the right comprehended the Detroit 
frontier and the Upper coasts of Lake Erie. St. Regis in Lower 
Canada, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, opposite to Corn- 
wall, was surprised on the morning of the 2ord October by a force 
of 400 men detailed from Plattsburg. The outpost or picket, 
at this point, consisted of twenty men and an officer of Canadian 
Voyageurs. Lieut. Rototte, Sergeant McGilUvray, and six men 
were killed, the remainder taken prisoners. In a cupboard of the 
wigwam of the Indian interpreter, was found a Union Jack, on gala 
days the worthy object of Indian adoration. This windfall was 
announced to the world as the " capture of a stand of colors," 
" the first colors taken during the war." Dozens of them might 
have been obtained, at far les-i cost, in any American shipyard. 

This affront was resented forthwith. On the 23rd November, small 
parties of the 49th Foot and Glengarry Light Infantry, supported 
by about 70 men of the Cornwall and Glengarry militia, about 
140 in all, under Lieut.-Coloncl McMillan, crossed the St. Law- 
rence and pounced on the American fort at Salmon river, opposite 
to St. Regis. The enemy took to the block-house, but finding them- 



DIVERSITIES OP CLIMATE — COMMODORE EARLE. 69 

selves surrounded, surrendered prisoners of war. One captain, 
two subalterns and fortj-one men were taken, with four batteaux 
and fiftj-seVen stand of arms. No " stand of colors" was captured 
with the Americans, as it is not usual to confide standards to the 
guardianship of detached parties of forty or fifty men in any ser- 
vice. 

But while winter, growing gradually up the river, had already 
imposed an icy barrier to all military operations in Eastern Canada 
and on the line of the river St. Lawrence, the climate of the Western 
Province, the more moderate as it declines westward, admitted, to 
a much later period of the year, of naval combinations and of the 
movements of troops. At a time when the St. Lawrence, from 
Quebec downwards, is barred by thick ribbed ice, and the vast 
territory intermediate between the Atlantic and this noble river is 
an impassable wilderness of snow ; where the breath freezes in the 
very nostrils of men ; the immense tract of country west of, and 
among the Lakes, enjoys a climate very like that of England ; — 
somewhat less of humidity, perhaps, and a little more of sun. At 
Detroit, the river freezes occasionally, as does the Rhine, and as does 
the Thames, and leads to much the same exhibition of jollity, booths 
and bonfires, races and roast oxen ; but the vast expanse of the lake 
surface moistens and softens the atmosphere — the waters are, for 
military purposes, at no period of the season reliably impracticable, 
and the West is, during winter, and in ordinary seasons, as pleasant 
a country to fight over as any part of Flanders. 

Thus, on the 9th of November, 1812, the American fleet from 
Sackett's Harbour, consisting of the Oneida brig of 16 guns, and 
six heavy schooners, chased the Royal George, commanded by 
Commodore Earle, into Kingston. At an earlier period the Com- 
modore had withdrawn from an attempt on the Oneida in Sackett's 
Harbour, and much had been said to his disparagement in conse- 
quence. We have been reminded significantly, that the Canadian 



70 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

Commodore did not belong to the Royal Navy. The imputation 
should have been spared until it had been fully ascertained how 
much of his apparent backsliding was ascribable to British mis- 
management. What was the strength of his crevr ? What the 
state of his equipments ? What his orders ? His conduct simply 
indicated the character of all the orders of that time. We do not 
hesitate to say that the Canadian seaman, on his own waters — man 
to man — is as good as the briniest salt that ever trod deck ; and as a 
rule, for pluck or conduct, the raw Canadian material is equal to 
any found in Yankeedom, or Christendom either, and in proof we 
quote the daring escape of the Canadian schooner Simcoe, James 
Richardson, commander, by running the gauntlet of the American 
flotilla. The story is thus told : 

On the 20th November, the Americans had cannonaded the 
town of Kingston, and got the worst of it, at long bowls. Th.y 
had hauled oif, beating out of the channel into the open lake, 
under heavy press of sail, when they discovered the Simcoe, 
a fine 200-ton schooner, bound from Niagara to Kingston. 
She had been employed in the transportation of troops and 
stores, and was returning in ballast. The American force, 
armed with long heavy guns, intercepted her completely. Rich- 
ardson, not relishing the idea of capture, and the transfer of so 
fine a vessel to the American marine, attempted at first to run 
her ashore on Amherst Island, but the wind baffled this design. In 
the meantime one of the enemy's schooners got under his lee, and 
opened fire, but, attempting to tack, " missed stays." Richard- 
son's nautical blood was up in a moment. He cheered his men. 
" Look, lads, at these lubbers ! Stand by me, and we will run past 
the whole of them, and get safe into ])ort." The answer was a ready 
cheer. The helm was instantly "• ])ut up," and si)rea(ling all sail, 
with a stilf breeze blowing, the daring Simcoe boir down direct on 
the iiarl)uur, passing a little to the northward of the encni^', who, 



SCHOONER SIMCOE — TERMINATION OF ARMISTICE. 71 

ship by ship, delivered their fire of round and grape, and vainly 
endeavoured to cross her bows. She shot by them all, with riddled 
sides and sails, but not a man hurt, running the gauntlet for 
four or five miles. Before reaching port she was struck under 
water by a 32-pound shot, filled, and sank, but w^as easily raised 
afterwards, and repaired. As she sank the crew fired their only 
piece of ordnance, a solitary musket, with a cheer of defiance, 
which was taken up and echoed by the thousands of citizens, 
troops, and militia who thronged the shore.* 

A few hours after. Commodore Chauncey, in command of the 
American squadron, captured a schooner having on board Capt. 
Brock, a brother of the deceased General, with plate and efiects 
of his late relative. Chauncey paroled the captain, and, with 
graceful generosity, restored to him all the captured property he 
had in charge. 

The armistice between Gen. Smyth and Sir Roger Sheaffe ter- 
minated on the 20th November. With Gen. Smyth gasconading 
was a gift. He had primed his men with proclamations, but 
fired the train with a long lanyard. He had prepared 2500 
men for an invasion of Canada. He presided at the embarkation, 
saw the men off safely, and retired to " organize further." 

" The tornado burst on the Canadian shore," to use the words of 
the American annalist,f at the upper end of Grand Isle, between 
Fort Erie and Chippewa. It was met by the gallant Col. Bishopp, 
who commanded about 600 men, — 360 regulars, and 240 militia, 
under Major Hatt and Capt. Bostwick. The first demonstration > 
took place on the 27th November. Small outposts of the British 
were temporarily overpowered, guns were spiked ; Lieutenants King, . 
Lament and Bartley, of the Royal Artillery, perversely fighting, 
with that stupid indisposition to give in, natural to British youngsters, 

* Memoranda of the Rev. Dr. Richardson, D.D. 

t Nile's Weekly Messenger, quoted by Auchinleck, 119. 



72 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

were badly wounded ; but when morning broke, Bishopp and Ormsby 
were down upon the invader. The guns were recaptured and unspik- 
ed ; a second division of American invaders repulsed with much loss ; 
and an aide-de-camp of the American general, with about forty men 
and some other officers, were taken prisoners. Smyth, who had 
already proclaimed himself victorious, was puzzled. Considei'ing 
the disparity of numbers the British ought to have surrendered 
long before— he was sure they meant to do so — the case of Hull was 
precisely parallel. He would give them an opportunity, — and so 
despatched a flag of truce to Fort Erie, politely requesting a sur- 
render — a suggestion which was declined, in the best possible 
temper, by the imperturbable Bishopp. 

Smyth ordered his men again into the boats, and then, to dis- 
embark and dine, and then, to repeat the same manoeuvre, until at 
length, on the 1st December, he decided to abandon all idea of 
crossing and conquest, and to go into winter quarters, wliich Avas 
done, it must be said, to the intense disgust of his army. Winter 
quarters led to military conventions, and to resolutions very dis- 
concerting to the General, who finding himself to be threatened 
with tar and feathers, departed forthwith South, was removed in a 
summary way from the U. S. service, and subsided finally into a 
member of Congress : and thus ended the campaign of the year 
1812, not inauspiciously for Canada. 

It proved two tilings — first tliat the people of tlie United States 
were disunited on the subject of tlie war, while the people of 
Canada were united to a man. Tlie Legislature of Maryland 
openly denounced the war. The governments of Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, and Rhode Island, had refused the quota of militia 
demanded of these States respectively. Such men as Quincey 
declared in the* House of Representatives at W;ishington, that 
^' since tlic invay:ioti of tlie Buccaneers, tlierc was notliiug in his- 
tory morcK disgraceiul thau this war." 



SPIRIT IN CANADA — LOYAL AND PATRIOTIC SOCIETY. 73 

The voice of Canada was unanimous — in the Upper and in the 
Lower Province — French and English — Protestant and Catholic — 
men of all parties and all policies — the voices of all were still for 
war. Thej had not sought it, — thej had shunned it, — but it had 
been forced upon them, and thej were ready to fight it out. Recol- 
lect, that this was not the sentiment of a vagabond population, but 
of the farmers, whose fields were left uncultivated, and families 
destitute, while thej risked their lives for their national independence. 
Nor were these sacrifices, all : let us consider the privations en- 
dured. Men were suddenlj summoned from their firesides, homelj 
but plentiful, to encounter a campaign, imperfectlj armed, insuffi- 
cientlj clad, uncertainlj fed. And jet no complaints were heard 
— thej sufifered and fought on. 

But the knowledge of their distress pervaded the communitj and 
touched everj heart. First, the people of York originated a sub- 
scription, and the joung ladies devoted themselves to the work of 
preparing flannels for the men. In December 1 812, rose the " Lojal 
and Patriotic Societj of Upper Canada ;" Thomas Scott, Chief 
Justice, President, and John Strachan, William Campbell, John 
Small, William Chewitt, J. B. Robinson, William Allan, Grant 
Powell, and Abel Wood, as Directors. The object of this Society 
was to provide comforts for the men, support for destitute families, 
succour for the wounded, compensation to the plundered, and 
assistance to all who required and deserved it. The appeal of this 
Societj met with an instant and generous response. In London, 
under the auspices of the Duke of Kent, was subscribed at once 
j£5,000 ; in Jamaica, .£1,419 ; in Nova Scotia, .£2,500 ; in 
Montreal, £3,130 ; in Quebec, XI, 500 ; in York, X 1,868 ; in 
Kingston and Eastern Districts, £800. In other places both within 
and without the Province other large sums, amounting altogether to 
£14 or £15,000. These monejs were emplojed verj judiciouslj, 
to the relief of great distress, leaving at the close of the war a con- 



74 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. ^ 

siderable balance in the hands of the Treasurer, but, at the time, 
this generous appreciation of their efforts had a grand effect. It 
sank deep into the hearts of the people of Canada. Inspired by the 
sympathy and enthusiastic support of their fellow-subjects in all 
parts of the world, the loyal men of Canada rallied to the flag of 
their native land — in utrdqiie fortund jjara^j— with the sentiment 
in their hearts which they have handed down to their children, 
expressed in Praed's Charade — 

Fight as your fathers fought, 

Fill! as your fathers fell : 

Thy task is taught — thy shroud is wrought — 

So — forward, and farewell. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Naval occurrences of the war. Supremacy of England on the ocean. Indifference to 
foreign progress. American frigates — Unrivalled in constiuction — Speed — Equipment 
— Power. Naval duels. The Constitution and Guerriere. The Frolic and Wasp. The 
United States and Macedonian. The Java and Constitution. Effect of these contests. 
Exultation of Europe. England nerved and steeled. The Hornet and Peacock. 
Counter-stroke. Shannon and Chesapeake. Moral effect. The balance redressed. 
Gallantry on both sides. Effect of these events on the war in Canada. 

Not to interrupt, as far as could be avoided, the thread, of the 
preceding narrative, no mention has been made of those remarkable 
naval duels which imparted so much of a bold and startling inter- 
est to the American contest, so called, of 1812. The first of 
these occurrences, which took place towards the end of that year, 
electrified and dazzled America, and blinded the popular vision to the 
reverses which had been encountered in Canada, while a series of 
well fought engagements, resulting, in rapid succession, to the disad- 
vantage of Great Britain, signalized the opening of the year 1813. 
Up to this period of time, England had held dominion of the seas. 
The oceans of the globe owned her sway. The Spaniard and the 
Frenchman, the Dutchman and the Dane, had confessed her prowess. 
From Cadiz to Copenhagen, from Gibraltar to the Nile, she ruled 
the main. It was with astonishment, not unmixed with glee, that 
those who had suffered discomfiture, now witnessed her disaster. 
The haughty lioness had been bearded in her den, by her own sea- 
cubs, who proved themselves, in deadly conflict, to be not un^yol•thy 
of their origin. 

In 1812 Great Britain had one thousand pennants afloat. At 



T6 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. -• 

the outbreak of the war, the American navy consisted of four 
frigates and eight sloops, but they were all shii)S of new and skilful 
construction, combining great power with great speed, and both, in 
the number of guns and weight of metal, exceeding their nominal 
strength. The embargo supplied these choice cruisers with admir- 
ble crews, while the officers, in seamanship and bravery, were second 
to none. It had been remarked by observant travellers in preced- 
ing years, that the Americans were building vessels of their respec- 
tive classes, very superior to our own, but the British Admiralty 
of the day were deaf to suggestion or advice. They laughed to 
scorn all such Yankee inventions. 

The reverend greybeards raved an' stormed 
That jounker hvddies 
I Should think they belter were informed 

Than tlicir auld daddies. 

Thus, when war came, a solitary frigate, splendidly armed, equipped, 
manned and officered, proved more than a match for ships of war, 
nominally ecjual, but in fact, greatly inferior ; while her speed enabled 
her to set at defiance all vessels or combinations of superior force. 
The frigates too, of England, scattered on every sea, were not only, 
individually, unequal in strength, but, from their nmnbers, imiierfcct 
in appointment and under-manned. All this ought to have been 
foreseen and provided for. In the absence of provision came the 
catastrojjhe. We have already seen how, in the first naval attempt 
of the war, the Belvidera had maintained the skilfid supremacy of 
England, but this was fuUowed by blows of di.Tercnt augury. In 
August, 1812,* the Constitution encountered the Guerriere. The 
American, in tonnage, weight of metal, and number of men, was 
half as heavy again as the Englishman. The former was fresh out 
of port. The latter returning from a long cruise to refit, with fore- 

• AiijrMsi 10, 1S12 



NAVAL DUELS — CONSTITUTION AND GUERRIERE. 77 

* • 

mast and bowsprit sprung. Captain Dacres,in true bull-dog fashion, 
fought for two hours, yard-arm to yard-arm. He was crushed, 
dismasted, wholly wrecked — seventy-nine men killed and wounded, 
and thirty shots received below the water-line. He struck, Avithout 
disgrace, to an antagonist uninjured comparatively in hull and rig- 
ging, and whose casualties amounted to fourteen.* The Guerriere 
was sinking when she struck. She was fired by the enemy and 
blown up. 

Next, in October, 1812, ensued the fight between the Frolic and 
the American Wasp, sloop of war, of the same nominal force, but 
the broadside, equipage and tonnage greatly in fixvour of the 
American. The Frolic, damao;ed in a gale, was refitting rigging. 
She was soon reduced to the condition of a log on the water, and 
was carried by boarding, the only living occupants of her decks 
being three officers and the man at the wheel. The British loss in 
a conflict of an hour was thirty killed and between forty and fifty 
wounded. Both ships were taken in the afternoon of the same 
day by the Poictiers. 74 guns, and sent into Bermuda.f 

* The Guerriere had been captured from the French, and for the beauty of her 
model was taken into our service. She was therefore an old ship, and h^r 
scantling only admitted of the use of long 18-pounder guns, while the Con- 
stitution carried 24 pounders on her main, and 32 pounders on her upper deck. 
The comparative fighting power of the two ships may be thus given : — 
Constitution. Guerriere. 

58 guns. 48 guns. 

Throwing 1536 lbs. shot. Throwing 1034 lbs. shot. 

Crew, 460. Crew, 240. 

Tonnage, 1538. Tonnage, 1092. 

t Frolic. Wasp. 

18 guns. 18 guns. 

Broadside, 262 lbs. Broadside, 268 lbs. 

Crew, 92. Crew, 135. 

15 hors de combat. 5 killed, 5 wounded. 

Tonnage, 384. Tonnage, 434. 



78 CHRONICLE OP THE WAR, 

On the 25th October came a still sturdier blow. The United 
States encountered the Macedonian, 56 guns to 44, and the dis' 
parity still more increased bj weight of broadside, tonnage, and crew. 
The fight was fierce, — at long range, — in close fight, — in attempts to 
board, — in a tremendous sea. The Macedonian was so crippled as to 
become unmanageable, and being exposed to raking broadsides, she 
could not answer. After a contest of two hours and upwards, with 
mizzenmast gone by the board, main and fore topmast shot away, 
thirty-six men killed and sixty-eight wounded, she slowly and sadly 
lowered her flag. The disparity of force is best shown by the com- 
parative losses. The British frigate lost 104 killed and wounded ; 
the American twelve.* 

Nor was this the last disaster of the year. On the 20th Dec, 
the Java frigate, under command of the young and gallant Lambert, 
left Spithead for the East Indian Station. Lambert had been at 
Quebec in 1808, in the Iphigenie frigate, where he had attracted 
much attention, as the beau ideal of a British sailor. Brock speaks 
of him with warmth in his familiar letters. He sailed from Spit- 
head with a motley crew — gaol-birds, as they were called — being 
many of them poachers and smugglers, desperadoes, devoid of dis- 
cipline, but, as the event showed, fullof fight; many of them, 
however, had never fired a cartridge. Lambert, who had some 
American experience, remonstrated. He was answered with a sneer : 
he was told that a voyage to Bombay and back would make a crew : 
and went to his death, doomed but determined. On the 29th Dec. 
he fell in with the Constitution — The inequality was much the same 
as in the preceding contest with the Macedonian. The Constitution 
at first stood away, long range being her forte, but Lambert was a 

* United Statca. Macedonian. 

Broadside, weight of metal, 864 lbs. Broadside, 628 lbs. 
Crew, 474. Crew, 254. 

Tonnage, 1633. Tonnage, 1081. 



UNITED STATES AND MACEDONIAN CONSTITUTION AND JAVA. 79 

seaman, and one of the bravest of the brave. He knew that his 
only chance was at close quarters, and by dint of good seamanship, 
at length ranged alongside of an antagonist, on his part nothing 
loath. The fight lasted two hours and a-half ; Lambert attemptmg 
to board, fell mortally wounded. With no greater crash to the 
brave hearts around, down came, at the same time, the foremast of 
the Java, clogging the deck with wreck. Lieut. Chads took the 
command, and desperately fought on ; the rigging and running gear 
ignited from the discharge of the guns. At last not a piece could 
be brought to bear, and the gallant ship, helpless and hopeless, sur- 
rendered to the foe, — but so utterly riddled and ruined, that the 
American Captain Bainb ridge, having saved the remains of her 
crew, left her to the flames, and the charred and shattered torso 
of the Java, " into the deep went down." * Lambert fell, a hero 
as he had lived, and expired six days after. His " gaol-bird " 
crew, true Britons at heart, and inspired by his devoted gallantry, 

— died, all pluck and bottom, 
To save a sire who blushed he had begot 'em. 

The size of these American frigates may be estimated, on stating 
the fact that the largest 74 gun ship in the British navy at that- 
time — the Dragon — was two feet shorter, though two feet wider, 
than the President, the Constitution, or the United States, rated as 
44 gun frigates ; and that while frigates of the class of the 
Guerridre, the Macedonian, and the Java, carried each twenty-eight 
long 18 pounders and sixteen 32 pounder carronades, the American 
44's, so rated, carried thirty-two long 24 pounders and twenty-two 

* Java, 44 guua, Constitution, ut supra. 

Men, 292 Men, 460 

Killed, 22 Killed, 10 

Wounded, 92—114 Wounded, 48— 58 

178 402 



80 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

32 pounder carronades. At long range they were superter in 
weio-ht and precision of fire, and immeasurably superior at close 
quarters.* 

The effect of these successive disasters can hardly be exaggerated, 
En<dand stood, for the moment, stunned. The continent of Europe 
shouted with joy. " Down Avith the sea-dogs, a has Us loups marins,^^ 
was the polyglot cry ; but the old sea-dog shook himself sulkily, 
showed his teeth, muttered an ominous growl, and betook himself 
at once to remedy the evil. Never does England bear herself 
more bravely, never does she look more worthy of her fortunes, than 
in the face of misfortune. The Admiralty, slow to move, when 
moved, swept on, with the force of the tide which rebuked the 
Courtiers of Canute. Efforts were made to strengthen the squad- 
ron on the American coast, and single vessels were equipped, and 
manned, fit to encounter the leviathans of America ; a further 
calamity spurred them on. On the 14th February, 1813, the 
American Hornet stung to death the British Peacock.* Both were 
sloops nominally of the same force, bat the Hornet had two guns 
more than her opponent, and the weight of her broadside was 
double. In men and size she was much superior. The contest 
continued for an hour and a half. The Peacock was so torn to 
pieces, that she sank with thirteen of her own men, and four 
Hornets, striving, nobly but vainly, to save their foemen from a 
watery grave. f 

As in the frigates, so was the disproportion in the American sloops 
of war. " For instance the sloop Hornet carried eighteen 32 carron- 



• Veritas, p. 145. 

t Peacock. Hornet. 

Broadside guns, 9. Broadside guns, 10. 

Weiglil of broadside, 192 Iba. Weight of broadside, 297. 

Men, 110. Men, 1G2. 

Tons, 386. Tons, 460. 



HORNET AND PEACOCK — SHANNON AND CHESAPEAKE. 81 

ades, four long 9 and two long 6 pounders with 162 picked men ; 
the British sloop Peacock had sixteen carronades of 24 lbs. and 
two long 9's, with 110 men." * 

At last came the counter-stroke. Among the many gallant 
officers, anxious to meet the Americans on equal terms, was Captain 
Broke, in command of the Shannon. He had under his command a 
crack ship mounting 52 guns, and a crew carefully trained to gunnery 
and small arms. They knew their commander, and their commander 
knew them ; and this mutual confidence made its mark in the hour 
of need. Broke, off the American coast, had learned that the frigate 
Chesapeake of 52 guns was then in Boston fitting for sea, Avhere- 
upon he dismissed liis consort, the Tenedos, a frigate of 36 guns, with 
instructions to keep out of the way while he had a fair " turn up" 
with the foe, and then, with Castilian punctilio, sent a cartel to Capt. 
Lawrence requesting in the most respectful terms " the honour of 
a meeting to try the fortunes of their respective flags. "f Lawrence, 
as brave a sailor as ever trod quarter deck, had anticipated the 
invitation, and was prompt in his acknowledgments. In brief space, 
11th June, 1813, Broke saw the American under weigh, and 
standing down upon him, surrounded by yachts and boats, while the 
cheers of his enthusiastic countrymen rang through the welkin. 
An entertainment had been prepared on shore for the return of 
those who were thus arrayed and sent to conquest, but the feast was 
served with funeral baked meats. 

The contest which ensued it is difficult to give in detail. It 
was short, sharp, and decisive, most bravely fought on both sides, 
but the magnificent gunnery of the British gave them an advantage 
from the outset, which was crowned by boarding. From the deck 
and from yard-arm, simultaneously, the American was carried, in a 



* Veritas, p. 146 ; Letter 9. 

t Letter from Broke to Lawrence, James, Vol. I, p. 199. 



82 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

desperate hand-to-hand struggle, led by Broke, who was severely 
wounded in the fray. Lawrence had fallen cheering on his men, 
and died shortly after the action, honoured and lamented. His 
body was buried at Halifax with every mark of military respect. 
In fifteen minutes from the firing of the first gun, the Chesapeake 
was a prize to the Shannon ; and in that brief space 145 brave men 
on the American side, and 83 on the English had passed to their 
account. The moral effect of this victory was tremendous — a suc- 
cession of disasters was repaired at a blow. The deadly spell was 
broken, and England again held in her grasp the talisman of success. 
It was recovered by her own resolution to repair defeat, and by a 
tardy, but just, appreciation of the merits of others.* 

In all these actions the strength of vessels, weight of metal and 
number of men were decidedly in favour of the Americans — the 
meed of valor was equally divided. In courtesy and manly bear- 
ing the American generously vied with the Briton. Lawrence and 
Lambert alike consecrated with their blood the flags of their 
respective countries. The echoes of the indiscriminating sea sing 
a requiem, everlastingly, for the souls of the brave men who fol- 
lowed their example. 

Yet more the billows and the depths have more, 
Light hearts and brave are gathered to thy breast : 
They hear not now the booming water roar ; 
The battle thunder will not break their rest. 
Keep thy red gold and gems, thou stormy grave ! 
Give back the true and brave I 



* A8MAUENTS. 

Shannon. Chesapeake. 
Broadside guns, 25 25 

Weight of metal, 535 590 

Number of crew, 306 376 

Tonnage, 1066 tons. 1135 tons. 



HONOUR TO THE BRAVE — EXULTATION OF AMERICA. 83 

The early successes of this naval campaign exercised great moral 
influence on the general conduct of the war. They more than 
compensated in the American mind for the national shortcomings 
onshore. The seaboard cities were then the centres of population 
and of opinion. The tastes, the pursuits, the sympathies of the 
people were with their sailors. The present exultation gave no 
thought to the future, or to disagreeable admonitions on the distant 
frontier of Canada. The Government also were not unaware 
that the present advantages on the Lakes might, with their oppor- 
tunities, be greatly improved, and the prestige of victory be 
transferred from the ocean to these inland seas. 



CHAPTER VII. 

1S13. American preparations on Lakes Ontario and Erie. British Ministry did its best — 
Canada its duty. Men and money voted. New Brunswick regiment marched from 
Fredericton on snow shoes. Major General Evans. Sir James Yeo and seamen arrive 
from Halifax. British and American forces on the frontier. In the West. Harrison 
and Proctor. General Winchester defeated and captured at Frenchtown. Capt, 
Forsyth harries Brockville. Reprisals Str George Prevost at Prescott. Permits a 
demonstration. I'icscott. Ogdensburg. Colonel George Macdonnell. The Glengarries. 
Bishop Macdonnell. Dash at Ogdensburg— Dangers of the ice— The place taken. Capt. 
Jenkins and Lieut. Eidge. PierreHolmes. His story. Macdonnell's courage, courtesy, 
and kindness. 

It has been said before, that one effect of the war had been to 
concentrate the national resources, both of men and material, and 
to dispose them most conveniently for operations on either arena, of 
land or lake ; immense preparations were made at once. Sackett's 
Harbour on Lake Ontario, and Presqu'isle on Lake Erie, were sup- 
plied with comparative facility from New York and Philadelphia, and 
a naval force, created with great rapidity, very superior to any with 
which Great Britain, engaged in every sea, and so distant from her 
colonies, could encounter the emergency. 

The preparations, therefore, for the campaign of 1813, were 
carried on with increased vigour by the American Government. 
The British Ministry, it may be behoved, did their best, but at great 
disadvantage. 'J'hrouged and beset by difficulties, it is not unnatural 
that they should stih have temporized, still have indulged in a lin- 
gering hope that more pacific counsels might yet prevail, or that 
the chapter of accidents would o})cn at a leaf propitious to the 
fortunes of Britain. 



MEN AND MONEY — RECRUITS AND REINFORCEMENTS. 85 

Nor was Canada wanting to itself. The Legislature of Lower 
Canada had assembled on the 29th Dec, 1812. The Army Bill 
Act was renewed and extended. X500,000 were authorized to be 
put into circulation. .£15,000 were granted to equip the embodied 
militia. £1,000 to provide hospitals, and £25,000 towards the 
support of the war. A duty of 2J per cent, on all merchandize 
imported into the Province was also granted for the support of the 
war. The expenses of the militia for the current year had been 
£55,000, or #220,000.* The whole expenditure of the Govern- 
ment was £98,777. 

In addition to the force already raised, the militia was augmented 
hj a draft in Lower Canada. A battalion was embodied in Quebec, 
(the 6th) for Garrison duty. A Canadian Fencible Regiment, 
a regiment of Glengarries, and a regiment of Voltigeurs were 
recruited diligently, and with success. f The New Brunswick regu- 
lar regiment, (the 104th,) in the month of March explored, for the 
first time, the wintry wilderness lying between Fredericton on the 
River St. John and the St. Lawrence. These hardy men per- 

* Christie, Vol. X, p. 72. 

f The Montreal Canadian Courant — an extinct Literary Volcano — of the 4th 
May, 1812, copies from the Quebec Gazette of a preceding date: 
"The VoLTiGECRS. 

" This corps now forming under the command of Major De Salaberry is com- 
pleting with a despatch worthy of the ancient warliiie spirit of the country. 
Capt. Perrault's company was fillled up in 48 hours, and was yesterday passed 
by His Excellency the Governor ; and the companies of Captains Duchesnay, 
Panel and L'Ecuyer, have now nearly their compliment. The young men move 
in solid columns towards the enlisting officers, with an expression of countenance 
not to be mistalien. The Canadians are awakening from the repose of an age 
secured to them by good government and virtuous habits. Their anger in fresh 
—the object of their pre}iaration simple and distinct. They are to defend their 
King, linown to them only by acts of kindness, and a native country long since 
made saered by the exploits of their forefathers." 



86 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

formed this feat, actually, upon snow-shoes, confronting hardships 
and surmounting obstacles, to which the late march of the Guards 
through the same scenes, admirable in itself, as it ever must be, was 
but a holiday freak. The staff and the Commissariat of those 
days had not undergone the teaching of a Crimean campaign — the 
more honourable to those who, by dint of individual exertion, con- 
trived to supply those deficiencies, and among them no man shone 
more conspicuously than the late Major General Thomas Evans, 
C.B., long identified with the social circles of Montreal and 
Quebec, and who was then a Captain in the 8th Infantry. 

In their wake followed Captains Barclay, Pring, and Finnis of 
the Royal Navy, with five lieutenants and a few seamen, overland? 
from HaUfax. From Quebec they proceeded rapidly to Kingston^ 
took the fleet there in hand, and laid themselves out, sturdily, to the 
work of fitting and equipment. In May they were joined by Sir 
James L. Yeo, from England, backed by about 450 British sailors. 

It may be well to recapitulate here the strength of the respective 
forces on the frontier, both of Upper and Lower Canada, at the 
commencement of the campaign of 1813. Armstrong, the Ameri- 
can Secretary at war, stated that the force commanded by General 
Dearborn, within District No. 9, that is to say, on the Plattsburg- 
Montreal frontier, was over 13,000 men of all arms. The force at 
the disposal of Sir George Prevost at this point did not exceed 
3,000 regulars and militia. 

At Sackett's Harbour 200 regulars and 2,000 militia ; at Lake 
Cli:uni)lain, available for operations on Central Canada or the left 
Division, 3,000 regulars and 2,000 militia. To oppose this force 
there were scattered at Kingston, Prescott, and other posts on the 
line, about 1,500 men. 

On the Niagara frontier, the enemy had assembled 3,300 rcgiilars 
and 2,000 militia. To these men were opposed 1,700 men in Fort 
George, and (100 men on the rest of the frontier, 3G miles in 
length,— 2,300 in all. 



WESTERN FRONTIER — PROCTOR AND WINCHESTER. 87 

On the Western frontier, General Harrison held in hand some 
2,000 men, while opposed to him in command of the Right division 
of Upper Canada, Proctor wielded about 1,000 troops, and 1,200 
Indians and militia. 

The first operations of the year were adverse to the Americans. 
The conditions of climate on the Western frontier admit of military 
movements at a time when Central Canada is difficult, and Lower 
Canada impracticable. Early in January, 1813, General Harrison, 
who, at the head of the Ohio levies, hung upon the border of 
Michigan, made demonstrations on Detroit, weakly garrisoned, and 
held by Colonel Proctor, who had been left in command by Brock. 
The season, though favourable to an advance from the American 
side, from the South, precluded all idea of British reinforcements 
from the North. On the 11th, Proctor learned that an American 
division under General Winchester, had reached Frenchtown on 
the River Raisin, with the intention of attacking Brownsto^vn, still 
more in advance towards Detroit. Proctor boldly grappled with 
the danger. He saw that the American force had advanced 
beyond the shelter of support, and he flung his whole strength on 
Winchester before Harrison could reach him. At break of day, on 
the 22nd, Proctor attacked the enemy's division, about 1,000 strong, 
being the flower of the Northwestern army, and encountered, from 
dread of the Indians, a desperate resistance. The buildings at 
Frenchtown were held, but a part of the American force broke to 
their rear, and endeavoured to escape by the road on which they 
came. In the pursuit, the American General was captured by 
Round-head, a Wyandot chief, and brought to Proctor. The 
Americans, who had retreated under cover, still fought with desper- 
ation.* Indian severities and their own inhuman reprisals crowded 



• Christie, Vol. XI, p. 69. A more detailed narrative of these occurrences 
will be found hereafter, Chapters XVIII and XIX. 



88 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

before their eyes, like spectres of doom, assuming bodily shape, in 
swarms of dusky warriors, heralded by demoniac yells. Winchester, 
apprehensive that the buildings held by his men would be fired to 
the hopeless destruction of every defender, agreed to surrender him- 
self and his whole force. Five hundred and twenty-two men and 
officers, with arms, stores and ammunition, became the prize of the 
British ; about 400 were killed and wounded. Proctor commanded 
500 regular soldiers and militia, with about 600 Indians, and lost 
180 hors de combat. He and his troops received a vote of thanks 
from the Canadian House of Assembly then in session, and he was 
promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. For a time, the 
Michigan territory was safe, and Detroit secure. 

We will now turn from the right division of Upper Canada, to 
the division of the left, or the frontier of the Upper St. Lawrence, 
On the 6th February, Capt. Forsyth, the invader of rustic tran- 
quillity at Gananoque, made a nocturnal raid on the pigs and 
poultry of Elizabeth town, now Brockville, where he wounded a 
militia sentry, sacked the cattle pens, and did not spare the private 
houses, nor the gaol, and carried off fifty-two of the inhabitants 
into captivity, — among them two Majors, three Captains, and two 
Lieutenants, elderly gentlemen, who, as a compliment, retained 
their commissions in the militia. This exploit led to a brilliant 
reprisal, and deserves notice moreover, as a proof, how far this part 
of the frontier is assailable in winter — the ice, indeed, affording 
facility for small predatory excursions. 

The Lower Canadian Legislature rose in February, and on the 
il7th Sir George Prevost loft Quebec for Upper Canada. On his 
route he found at Prescott Lieut.-Coloncl Pearson, an active and 
enterprising officer, who urged upon him an attack on Ogdensburg 
in retaliation for tlic recent descent on Brockville. Prevost doubted 
and demurred ; but while the proposal was under discussion, it was 
^iiseovered that two deserters had escaped from the British side 



PRESCOTT AND OGDENSBURG. 89 

with the inteUigence of the presence of the Governor in Prescott, 
and of his contemplated movement westward, no light incentive to 
the enemy to intercept his progress. It was therefore deemed 
expedient to distract attention from His Excellency by a diversion, 
and Pearson was permitted to plan a demonstration on the ice of the 
St. Lawrence, — like the torreador of a Spanish bull-fight, — partly 
to disconcert, and hocus the bull, and partly to test the mettle and 
strength of the animal. 

Prescott was then a small village, protected by a palisaded fort, 
and block-house ; since enlarged, surrounded with heavy earth 
works, and now known as Fort WeUington. It is situated above 
the Rapids, or continuous, rough, and bi-oken navigation of the 
St. Lawrence, which for 40 miles interrupts communications with 
Montreal, and was a place of rendezvous, for voyageurs and 
batteaux, and a depot for military stores. It stands on an exposed 
part of the frontier, within cannon shot of Ogdensburg opposite. 
Below, the Canadian shore of the St. Lawrence is, to a great extent, 
covered by impassable rapids, and above, with a short interval, the 
coast is in like degree masked by the rocks of the Thousand Islands. 
But in that interval, from Prescott to Brockville — a distance of twelve 
miles — a lovely champaign country opens to the view, undulating 
upwards in rich verdure, as if born of the green waters of the noble 
river, and bearing on its fertile uplands, cornfields and orchards, 
mills and farm houses, villas and villages, nestling among primeval 
trees, all very beautiful to look upon, but difficult to defend, either in 
summer or winter. 

Opposite to Prescott stands, now, the flourishing city of Ogdens- 
burg, containing 7000 inhabitants, in those days a populous vil- 
lage, very democratic in its proclivities, and anti-British in religion. 
It was then, also, a fortified mihtary post, garrisoned and armed, 
but still more effectually protected by the breadth of the St. Law- 
rence, at this point, a mile and a quarter wide. One rash at- 



90 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

tempt upon the place made in open day, in the soft and golden 
autumn, had, as already related, been repulsed. In the later autumn 
and early winter, the floating masses of descending ice })rohibit the 
use of boats, but by the end of December the river generally 
*' takes," presenting when solid, a continuous surface, but inter- 
spersed here and there with open intervals of rushing water, and 
with uncertain intervals of unsubstantial ice, pitfalls, and worse to 
the incautious footstep, and very trying to the nerves, if nerves 
were known at that early period of the Canadian formation. It had 
been, of course, impracticable to test or try the strength of the ice 
under the fire of Oo;densburor. 

The proposed demonstration was in itself an adventure full of peril, 
but the man who led was no trifler. Pearson had been ordered away, 
and his second in command, Lt.-Col. G. Macdonnell, conducted the 
enterprise. Colonel Macdonnell being for the nonce a militia officer, 
like the Free Lance of former days, was given to fighting on his 
own inspirations, and it was hinted that Pearson did not altogether 
disapprove of the latitudinarianism of his subordinate. This galhmt 
oflficer came of a good stock. Descended from the old, and a 
native of the new Glengarry, he led to the fight such a following 
as Vich Ian Vohr himself, might have been proud to muster. He 
commanded the Glengarry Fencibles, raised wholly in Central 
Canada, and on the occasion of the raid on Brockville, had been 
dispatched to remonstrate with the American commander on the 
un-military character of his excursion. He had been received with a 
discourtesy not usual to the educated officer of the American army, 
had been taunted somewhat in the style of " Mine Ancient Pistol," 
and had been challenged to a fight on the ice ; a fancy he was not 
disinclined to gratify, and he had at his bidding the very men to 
hclj) him. 

These men were the Glengarries. In the rear of Prescott, due 
Nortli and East, fronting on the St. Lawrence, and a few miles 



THE GLENGAKRIES — BISHOP MACDONNELL. 91 

distant from the stream, lies what is known as the Glengarry country, 
of Canada, composed of the present united counties of Stormont, 
Dundas, and Glengarry. At the time of the war these tracts of 
country were known as the Eastern District of Upper Canada. 
After the peace of 1783, the Eastern District had heen appropriated 
by the British Government, as a place of refuge for the U. E. 
Loyalists, and it so happened that among these early and war-worn 
settlers, a majority consisted of Scotch Highlanders, the descendants 
of men who, after Culloden, had been transported to the plantations, 
and whose instincts of loyalty were such, that regardless of names, 
genealogies, or dynasties, they looked to the principle, and whether 
it was for James, or whether it was for George, struck heartily and 
home in the abiding sentiment of Claverhouse : 

" Ere the king's crown comes down, there are crowns to be broke." 

The dauntless devotion of these men attracted a still further acces- 
sion of chivalrous loyalty. To the Jacobites of 1745 — to the U. E. 
Loyalists of 1775, was added a gallant band of Scottish soldiers who 
had fought the battle of the Crown against Republican France from 
1792 to 1803. Men who had battled under Hutchinson and Aber- 
crombie, who had pushed the French grenadiers at Aboukir, and 
had borne the brunt of the Turkish cavaliers at Rosetta. The brief 
and illusive peace of Amiens (1802) led to the disbandment of 
many fine British regiments, and among them a Catholic regiment of 
Highlanders, raised some years before, mainly through the instru- 
mentality of Alexander Macdonnell of Glen Urquhart, a Catholic 
clergyman of great energy of character and benevolence of dispo- 
sition.* He had been appointed chaplain of the corps, and in the 
hour of their destitution proved to be a fast and faithful friend. 
By unremitted exertion, he obtained from the British Ministry of the 
day the permission and the means, to transport the men of the late 

• Morgan, Celebrated Canadians, p. 262. 



92 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

Glengarry regiment to Canada. He led them into the wilderness, and 
engrafted on the waste, their faith to God and their fidelity to the 
throne. Good Catholics, faithful and loyal men, they have never 
departed from that first, noble teaching. The earnest priest and 
tried friend, through life, never deserted them. Partaking of the 
character of the mediaeval churchman, half bishop, half baron, he 
fought and prayed, with equal zeal, by the side of men he had come 
to regard as his hereditary followers. With the universal aCclaim 
of all good men of all denominations, he rose to the Episcopate and 
died Bishop of Kingston, mourned in death as he had been revered 
in life. 

The Bishop had been most active in rousing and recruiting the 
Glengarries during the preceding winter. The fiery cross had passed 
through the land, and every clansman had obeyed the summons. 
The Glengarry Fencibles garrisoned the frontier, and their gallant 
leader, (George the Red) a near relation of Bishop Macdonnell, now 
rallied his followers behind the earth works of Prescott for his pro- 
posed demonstration on Ogdensburg. 

And wild and high tlie " Cameron's gathering" rose, — 

The war note of Lochiei, — which Albyn's hills 

Have heard, and heard too have her Saxon foes :— 

How in the noon of night that i)ibrocli thrills 

Savage and shrill ! But with the breath which fills 

Their monntain pipe, so fill the mountaineers 

"With the firm native daring which instils 

The stirring memory of a thousand years, 

And f]vans', Donald's fame, rings in each clansman's ears. 

Little time was wasted on preliminaries. It had been the prac- 
tice of the British for some time previous, to exercise daily on the 
ice. Half the river fairly ]>ol(mgod to them, and not liaving, 
hitlicrto, carried their mimic warfare beyond these limits, they had 
continued to drill and manoeuvre, unmolested. On the morning of 
tlie 22nd February, Macdonnell descended on the ice at the head 



ATTACK ON OGDENSBURG — GALLANTRY OF JENKINS. 93 

of 480 men, — two-thirds and more Canadian militia, supported by 
two field pieces. He played and purred for some time with velvety 
touch, prepared for a spring. The American officer in command, 
Forsyth, was at his breakfast. He was informed, in haste, that the 
British fun, that morning, looked very like earnest; but assum- 
ing the privilege of the " old soldier," he simply " pooh-poohed" 
his informant. The British were only at drill, " they were not the 
men to trouble him in that impudent way," and so, betook him 
afresh to his corn cakes and hominy. He occupied an old French 
work on the western side of the Oswegatchie, a small affluent of the 
St. Lawrence, at its mouth, situated behind where the lighthouse 
now stands. He had eleven guns in position, 500 men at his back, 
and a glacis before him a mile wide, exposed and smooth as a table- 
cloth. Macdonnell manoeuvred briefly, and then dividing his force 
into two columns, advanced rapidly to the attack ; — speed and reso- 
lution alone could save them. The Americans, more wary than 
their chief, sprang to their guns ; musketry and cannon opened on 
the advancing columns. The left, under Macdonnell himself, 
rushed rapidly on, under a heavy fire, and through the deep snow 
ascended the river bank, and swept from the left into the village 
of Ogdensburg, overwhelming all opposition. Here from the east- 
em bank of the Oswegatchie, he commanded to a great extent the 
flank and rear of old French Fort Presentation, and the batteries 
which raked the river ; but his own guns were behind hand, they 
had stuck in the deep snow bank and rough ice, broken and piled, 
at the river bank. By furious efibrts they were forced to the front, 
and not a moment too soon. While this was doing, Jenkins, who 
commanded the right wing, a gallant New Brunswicker, and a 
Captain in the Glengarries, had, most emphatically, taken the bull 
by the horns. Seven pieces of artillery, backed by 200 good 
troops, smashed the head of his advance ; gallantly he rallied his 
broken column, not a living man shrank j springing forward with a 



94 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

cheer, his left arm was shattered by a shot ; nothing daunted, for- 
ward and still cheering on, his upraised right arm was disabled by 
a cluster of grape. Thus crippled, his voice still failed not, nor his 
gestures, until he fell from loss of blood,* but he was nobly fol- 
lowed. His gallant Glengarries, with broken formation, through 
the deep snow, in front of the deadly battery, were re-forming for a 
charge with the bayonet, when, fortunately, Macdonnell's guns on 
the left got within range. Captain Eustace, with the men of the 
King's, crossed the Oswegatchie and captured the eastern battery, 
and together, both attacks swarmed into the body of the place, to find 
it vacated, except by dead and dying, the enemy having withdraAvn 
to the woods in their west rear, where there was no means of inter- 
cepting their retreat. The Americans lost about 75 men and 
officers, eleven pieces of cannon, a large amount of military stores 
and four armed vessels burnt in the harbour. The British lost eight 
killed and fifty-two wounded, the larger proportion, as may well be 
supposed, in front of the old French work assailed by Captain 
Jenkins. 

This feat was performed chiefly by the men of the country, by 
the militia and Fencibles, both Canadian and Glengarry. These 
men did not plead qualms of conscience or constitutional scruples, 
as an excuse for not daring the ice, which undulated and 
cracked and gaped beneath their feet. One hundred and 
twenty of the King's regiment, imder Captain Eustace and 
" Lieutenant Ridge of that corps, who very gallantly led on 

* Captain Jenkins was a maa of striking appearance and bearing, — the 
admiration of his men. He was, as stated in the text, a native of New Brunswick, 
the son of an American loyalist and brave old soldier. His left arm was am- 
putated at the shoulder; his right arm was saved, but almost in a useless state. 
He survived in this condition some years. Mrs. Sampson of Kingston,— tlie esti- 
mable wife of a man as much respected as she was beloved, the late Dr. Sampson,— 
was a sister of this distinguished otticer. His only daughter, the wife of 
Sutherland Stayner, Esquire, lives near Richmond, C. E. 



FIGHTING farmers' SONS — PIERRE HOLMES. 95 

the advance,"* and forty of the Rojal Newfoundland regiment, 
under Captain Lefebvre, led the left column, and, as ever, were fore- 
most in the fraj, but the remainder of the force, and particularly 
the men under Jenkins, were farmers' sons fighting in defence of 
their homes, and right nobly did they redeem, that day, the 
pledge made to mother and sister and wife by the old fireside. Col. 
Frazer of the militia was bravely supported by his oflBcers and men. 
Lieut. Empey of that force lost a leg. Lieut. McAulay . and 
Ensign Macdonnell of the Glengarries, Ensigns Kerr of the militia, 
and Mackay of the Light Infantry, who had each charge of a field- 
piece, and Lieut. Gangueben of the Royal Engineers, are all honour- 
ably mentioned by Colonel MacdonneU in his graphic and soldierly 
despatch. 

There still Hves in Ogdensburg an old Canadian militiaman, by 
name Pierre Holmes. His father had been a British soldier, his 
mother a French Canadian of Sorel. French is his natural lan- 
guage. He is very old and very poor. He works about, doing 
" chores," cutting wood, and drawing water for the grandsons of 
those against whom he fought on this memorable occasion, and who 
appear to regard the lively old man with especial favour. He 
relates how that he was a '•^ petit tambour " of the Canadian Fen- 
cibles in those days ; how the British paraded for a while, threw 
out skirmishers, and advanced on the ice " drapeaux deployes et 
tambours battants ;" how boldly Macdonnell led, how, by swearing 
and sweating, he got his guns out of the deep snow ; how, he 
cared for his prisoners ; how, he released one indignant captive, 
who had been rudely treated by an over lively volunteer, and 

* Vide Macdonnell's despatch, February 23rd, 1813. This dashing officer 
subsequently married the eldest daughter of the Hon. Samuel Gerrard of Mon- 
treal. Their eldest daughter is married to Edward L. Freer, Esquire, Canada 
Postal Department, and the second to George, son of the Hon. George Moflfatt, 
of Montreal. 



96 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

sent his unworthy assailant to the black-hole ; how, he prohi- 
bited and forstalled all pillage. It appears, that in crossing the 
river, a little of the olden rieving temper had revived among the 
Highlandmen, and the word " spulzie " had passed, and many 
faces glistened with glee at the hopeful prospect ; but to their in- 
tense disgust Macdonnell anticipated them. He put a sentry upon 
every door in Ogdensburg ; " and so," exclaimed the auditor of 
old Peter Holmes' narration, " you got no plunder after all ?" 
"Plunder !" shrieked the old man, in the angry accents of indig- 
nant recollection, " Plunder ! Non, monsieur, non pas meme 
une torquette de tahacT''* 

Macdonnell took his revenge by force of contrast ; he was cour- 
teous to his enemies, protected prisoners, spared the poultry, 
respected elderly gentlemen notwithstanding their rank in the 
militia, and paid every American teamster employed in transport- 
ing the captured stores to Prescott four dollars i)er diem in hard 
silver, as the price of his services. 



• Pierre Holmes, as has been before said, is very old and very poor. By 
some misadventure or inadvertence, or want of knowledge, or of energy rightly 
applied, he never got the 200 acres of land awarded to him as "Tambour 
Major" at the end of the war. la it now too late; can nothing even yet be 
done for the brave old man ? 



CHAPTER VIII. 

British armaments at Kingston and York. British force. American strength. Descent 
planned on Kingston. York and Fort George. Little York — What it was — What it 
is. Defences in 1813. York attacked 26th April, 1813. Ship of war on the stocks, 
on British order. First alarm. Pluck of the population. Maclean, clerk of the House 
of Assembly, killed. Young Allan MacNab. Sir Roger Sheaife. 

In the mean time, Sir George Prevost, on the 23rd February, 
had reached Kingston in safety, and there, animated by his pre- 
sence, the exertions made to restore the equality of the British Avith 
that of the American naval armament on lake Ontario. One ship 
of war had been laid down at York, now Toronto, in the preced- 
ing year ; and another, the Wolfe, of 24 guns, was in an advanced 
stage at Kingston, but men and stores were both wanting. The 
American shipwrights at Sackett's Harbour, through the energy of 
their government, fore-reached, hand over hand, those in the British 
ship-yards. Sir James Yeo and his seamen did not arrive until 
May, so that Commodore Chauncey, amply supphed and equipped 
fi'om the sea-board arsenals, rode undisputed master of Ontario 
from October, 1812, to the middle of May, 1813. How he used his 
opportunity will be shortly shown. The whole coast of this beau- 
tiful lake was open and exposed to attack. A descent on Kingston 
had been planned and was expected. The Americans had six fine 
schooners and a ship, mounting together 72 guns, aU admirably 
appointed and manned by choice seamen, disposable for an invasion 
at any point. 

The real military objects of attack were Fort George, Niagara, 
and Kingston. Little York, the point selected, was notably 

G 



98 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

defenceless and indefensible. Little York then contained about 
1000 inhabitants and was the seat of the government and legis- 
lature of Upper Canada. This fact gave it an adventitious impor- 
tance. It possessed then, and does still, a very good harbour 
for vessels of moderate draught, perhaps the real secret of its future 
fortune. The young capital of a new born country, it was not, even 
then, unworthy of high aspirations. It had, already, become the 
residence of the chief officers of the legislatui-e and government, 
of the dignitaries of the law, and the hierarchy of the church ; 
men living in modest affluence and noted for genial hospitality. 
Amongst them had settled many of the most distinguished of the 
U. E. Loyalist refugee families, whose proudest characteristic, 
engrafted on the native patriotism of the country, has produced a 
plant of indigenous growth unsurpassed in all the climates of the 
Empire, York Avas then the centre of the intelligence, the learn- 
ing and of the nascent progress of the land, and it has well fulfilled 
its promising destiny. 

Little York is now the beautiful city of Toronto, containing 
50,000 inhabitants, — a mart of commerce, a school of learning, the 
abode of energy and enterprise, talent and taste. It is adorned by 
some of the finest edifices, pubhc and private, in Canada. The 
buildings of the University would add embellishment to Oxford. 
The law courts rival in elegance those of Dublin. The Bank of 
Toronto would adorn Pall Mall. 

In April, 1818, the town was a scattered collection of low-roofed 
villas, embowered in ap})le orchards. An old French Fort or earth- 
work, constructed to resist the Indians, stood on the sliore of the 
lake about a mile from tlie inhabited part of the Bay. Two embra- 
sured field works, dignified by the name of batteries, covered the 
entry to the harbour. These works were armed witli three old 
French -4 pound guns, captured in 17<)0 ; tlic trunnions had been 
knocked ofi"atthe time, but, for the nonce, they had been exhumed 



DEFENCES OF YORK — PREPARATIONS — VIDfiTTES. 99 

from the sand and clamped down upon pine logs, extemporized as 
carriages. The town was entirely open in the rear and on the 
flanks, an easj prey to an enemy waging war in the spirit of a 
buccaneer. An unfinished ship of war on the stocks, was, in a 
mihtary point of view, the only legitimate object of attack ; and her 
destruction might have been, at any time, efiected by a couple of 
boat's crews. 

This ship had been laid down as before said, in the preceding 
year, when the British had the command of the lake, and expected 
to keep it, and would have done so, had the Imperial government 
shoAvn befitting energy at the outset, or had the later inspirations of 
Sir Isaac Brock been listened to. But the pall of an enforced 
procrastination hung over the Provincial authorities. A lofty dis- 
belief in the Avickedness of man, and in the imminence of a war had 
paralyzed and neutralized the precautions judiciously commenced 
and the Americans had been permitted to gain the ascendancy. 
The ship could not be taken to pieces, nor, in the winter, be dis- 
embedded from the ice. All that could be done under the circum- 
stances was to push on the work, — as a happy-go-lucky experiment 

to complete and save her, if it might so chance ; and, if not to 

destroy her. 

Commodore Chauncey, and General Dearborn, the American 
General in Chief, after due deliberation, preferred a cheap predatory 
certainty at York to a glorious uncertainty at Kingston ; and on the 
25th April, — at a period of the season when the Lower St. Lawrence 
was barred by rugged piles of rotting ice — when roads and rivers 
were impassable, and all assistance, support, or supply, impossible 
— the American squadron left Sackett's Harbour, sixteen sail of 
vessels, conveying a land force of 2,500 men. 

Videttes had been, long before, posted, in -constant watch on 
Scarborough Heights, with orders to fire alarm guns, and, on sio-ht 
of a hostile fleet, to ride into town. It was late on the evenino- of 



100 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

the 26th April, when the first report hushed every voice, and 
stilled for a moment the startled hearts of a ^Yhole population. 
Night fell as the news arrived, and with it came hurry, con- 
fusion and dismay. We read of such things, and in the interest 
of the story, lose sight of the agony of the hour, when the tide of 
terror topples over the dyke which has sustained it so long, and 
drowns out human endurance, sense, and reason. ^Vhatever may 
have been the expectation and preparation, — whatever the hopes 
and fears ; it is a tremendous thing to realize, — that the spoiler is at 
tiie door, that the happy home may be given to the flames, that 
the tender wife and radiant children of to-day may be outcasts 
and wanderers to-morrow. The excited mind aggravates and 
exaggerates these apprehensions. It may be picturesque to tell of, 
but it is an appalling thing to see — 

The thronging citizens with terror dumb, 

Who whisper with white lips, " The foe, they come, they come !" 

At the same time, it is wholesome to remind the present gene- 
ration of the experience of the past. 

But the men of Toronto paused not long to whisper, nor could 
white lips be said to be, in any way, prevalent. The bounding 
blood stood still, for an instant only — men, who saw the whole extent 
of the danger, who knew the impotence of defence, also knew 
their duty, and every pulse of the popular heart throbbed with the 
rage of resistance. Old and young, rich and poor, high and low, 
rushed to arms. The maimed, the wounded, the invalid, the reck- 
less school-boy, the grave judge of the land, — all shouldered their 
muskets, and fell into the ranks. McLean, clerk of the House of 
Assembly, seized his rifle, and was killed at early dawn among the 
men of the 8th. Young Allan MacNab, a lad of 14 years, whose 
name has been, ever since, identified with Canadian story, stood side 
by side with a veteran father, shattered with wounds, sire and son, 



BRAVE RALLY OF THE INHABITANTS — SHEAFFE. lOl 

equally eager for the fray. But the British force was utterly 
inadequate for resistance. Altogether, it did not exceed 600 men. 
Two companies of the 8th or " King's Own " were accidentally 
in the town on their way from Kingston to reinforce the garrison of 
Niagara, and unhappily swelled the slaughter with but little service 
to the cause. 

This force was under the command of Major General Roger 
Hailles Sheaffe, an old and brave officer, who, after the death of 
Brock, had retrieved the fight on Queenston Heights, and had 
been honoured for his success by a Baronetcy. Sheaffe was a 
Massachusetts boy, born in Boston, educated from an early age for 
the army, into which he entered young, under the powerful influ- 
ence of the house of Northumberland. In the 49th foot, he served, 
side by side with Brock in the West Indies, in Holland and at 
Copenhagen, and with his revered comrade came to Canada. 
Here he encountered, after many years of separation, his cousin 
Margaret, daughter of John Coffin, a U. E. LoyaHst refugee,* who 



* The Loyalist refugees from the United States in those days, found the 
pathway of flight a hard road to travel. Roads between the inhabited parts of 
the States and Canada, there were none. The only communication for a 
family laden with its household goods was by water. A large number of 
the refugee Loyalist families from the Eastern and Middle States of the sea- 
board of America found their way into Canada by the river Hudson, Lake 
Champlain, and the river Richelieu, to Sorel. From this point they took a 
fresh departure up the St. Lawrence to Kingston, or Little York or Newark, 
and intermediate places of settlement. The family of the late Sir John 
Beverly Robinson came into Canada by this route. 

John Coffin, named in the text, brought his family round from Boston to 
Quebec in a schooner which, being the conjoint property of himself and a 
partner, who adhered to the Republican party, was shortly after captured by 
a British cruiser, and declared good prize. John Coffin, with nine children 
reached Quebec in 1775. In 1778 he was proscribed by name in the " Boston 



102 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

had followed the colours under which Sheaffe fought, from Boston 
to Quebec. An old attachment was revived between the cousins, 
strengthened bj the romantic incidents of many chequered years, 
and in 1808 they were married. He had left his wife and young 
children at Quebec, and his military headquarters were at Fort 
George. Having succeeded on the death of Brock to the civil as 
well as the miHtary command in Upper Canada, York was of course 
the seat of his Provincial government, but at the time of the 
descent he was almost, by mere chance, on the spot. 



Confiscation Act," * and his property confiscated as a penalty for his adherence 
to the Royal cause. His return to Massachusetts would have been visited by 
death without benefit of clergy. 

He was in Quebec, under arms, during the siege 1175-76. On the memorable 
morning of the 1st Jan., 1776, John Coffin defended the same battery at the 
Pres de Ville, in the Lower Town of Quebec, with the well-known Captain 
Barnsfare, when assailed by the American forces. In front of this battery fell 
General Montgomery, and the chief officers of his staff, and with them the 
last hoi)es of the American cause in Canada. The following documents 
which i-emain in tiie possession of the family, prove by tlie best evidence, that 
whatever may be the merit justly ascribed to Captain Barnsfare for the defence 



•"Boston Confiscation Act," Sept., 1778, ch. 48.— "In Massachusetts a person suspected 
of enniity to tlieWliig cause, could bo arrested under a Magistrate's warrant, and banislied, 
unless lie would swear lealty to the friends of liberty; and the select men of towns could 
prefer charges of political treachery in town meetings; and the individual thus aucu.-^ed, if 
convicted by a jury, could be sent into the enemy's jurisdiction. Massacliusctts also desig- 
nated by name and, generally, by occupation and residence, three hundred and eight t)f her 
people, of whom seventeen had been inhabitants of Maine, who had fled fTom their houses, 
and denounced against any one of them who should return, apprchonsiou, imprisonment; 
and transjjortation to a place possessed by the British, and for a second voluntary return, 
without leave, death without benefit of clergy. By another law, the property of twenty- 
nine ])ersons, who were dcnominatod " notorious conspirators," was confiscated — of these 
fifteen had been a|>|)ointed " Alandanius councillors," two had been (iovernors, one Lieut- 
Governor, one Treasurer, one Attorney (iencral, one Chief Justice, and Ibiir Commissioners 
of CuHtoms.—[ Lorenzo Sabine, Uistorical Essay prefixed to Biographical Sketches of the 
American J.,oyalists, p. 78. 



LETTERS FROM LORD DORCHESTER AND COL. M'LEAN. 103 

of this post, an equal measure of praise was, at least, due to the American 
Loyalist, John CofiBn. 

The first of these letters was written by Sir Guy Carleton, afterwards Lord 
Dorchester, who was Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Province of 
Quebec, and who was in Quebec during the whole siege. 

Jenningsbury, Dec. 25, 1779. 
Sir, — I have received your letter, and am sorry to learn your brother's mis- 
fortunes render it now necessary for him to apply for any assistance beyond 
his own industry, having observed in all his conduct from his arrival in the 
Province of Quebec until I left it, a constant attachment and zeal for the 
king's service, as well as the manner of a prudent, worthy man, I could not 
but interest myself for him ; yet his conduct and judicious behaviour on the 
morning of the 31st Dec, 1775, gave him a still stronger claim on me ; for to 
him with the assistance of Barnsfare, I attribute the repulse of the rebels on 
the side of Quebec when Mr. Montgomery attacked in person, while the success 
on the other was very different, and brought the town into no small danger. 
Now, whether we consider the strength of the post, the number allotted to its 
defence, or the former services of the officer who commanded, we might have 
expected as much at least from him — a remarkable proof this, that former 
services and greater numbers may be outdone by superior vigilance and good 
sense of gentlemen, though not used to arms. After all this, sir, I cannot but 
lament, that it is nowise in my power to forward Mr. Coffin's wishes ; I might, 
'tis true, bear witness to his merits, but this probably would hurt not serve, 
such is the state of things. I have, therefore, only to assure you of my esteem 
for him, and that I am 

Sir, 
Your most obedient and most humble Servant, 

(Signed,) GUY CARLETON. 

To Mr. Nathaniel Coffin, 

Pall Mall, London. 

The second is a letter written by Colonel Allan McLean, H. M. 87th Regt., 
commanding the garrison during the seige of Quebec, 1775-76. 

Quebec, 28th July, 1776. 
Sir,— As I am in a few days going to England with dispatches from the 
Commander-in-Chief, I should be glad to know if I could be of any service to 
you : power to do you any material service I have none ; but your conduct 



104 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

during the siege of Quebec last winter and spring makes it a duty on my part 
to give you my testimony and approbation of every part of your conduct. 
Truth must always have some weight with his Majesty and his Ministers, who, 
I am certain, wish to reward deserving men like you. To your resolution and 
watchfulness on the night of Dec. 31st, 1775, in keeping the guard at the 
Pres de Ville under arms waiting for the attack which you expected ; the great 
coolness with which you allowed the rebels to approach ; the spirit which your 
example kept up among the men ; and the very critical instant in which you 
directed Captain Barnsfare's fire against Montgomery and his troops ; — to those 
circumstances, alone, I do ascribe the repulsing of the rebels from that important 
post, where, with their leader, they lost all heart. 

The resolutions you entered into, and the arrangements you made to maintain 
that post, when told you were to be attacked from another quarter, was worthy 
of a good subject, and would have done honour to an experienced officer. I 
thought it incumbent on me to leave with you this honourable testimony of 
your service, as matters that were well known to myself in particular ; and I 
should be happy at any time to have it in my power to be useful to you, and do 
assure you that I am with truth and regard. 

Sir, 
Your most obedient humble Servant, 

(Signed,) ALLAN MACLEAN. 

To Mr. John Coffin, Quebec. 

The third is a communication signed Ilenry Caldwell, Lieut.-Colonel com- 
manding the British Militia at the siege of Quebec. This gentleman was father 
to Sir John, and grandfather to the late Sir Henry — Baronets of that name. 
He certifies by a document given under his hand at Quebec, May, 1787, that 
" John Coffin, Esquire, served in the British militia, under my command, during 
the siege of this town by the rebels, from Nov. seventy-five to May seventy-six, 
during all which time he conducted himself and behaved with the greatest 
spirit, zeal, and activity in the king's service, which by his example was very 
much promoted, particularly on the attack of the 31st Dec, when he very 
much distinguished himself." 

lie left a large family — four daughters : the eldest married Colonel McMurdo ; 
the second, the Hon. John Craigie, brother to Lord Craigie, Edinburgh ; a son 
of this lady is now a British Admiral ; the third became Lady Shcafle ; the 
fourth died in Quebec. 



SONS AND DESCENDANTS OP JOHN COFFIN. 105 

And seven sons. One was killed, a Lieutenant in the Navy; another, 
Francis Holmes, rose to the rank of Admiral in the same noble service ; two 
died high in rank in the Commissariat — one a Major in the Army ; a sixth was 
member Legislative Council, and Colonel Mil., Lower Canada ; and a seventh 
Adj. -General Militia, Upper Canada. 

His descendants reflect with pride, that the above-named exiles earned their 
rank by long and faithful services ; but it is a subject of still greater pride to 
acknowledge that they all owed their opportunity to the devoted loyalty 
which has ever characterized their family, and to the generous appreciation of 
it by their Sovereign and country. 

These descendants in Canada and in England are many. Among those in 
Canada may be named Mrs. Hamilton of Quebec, mother of Robert Hamilton, 
Esquire, and of the Hon. John Hamilton of Hawkesbury, C. W., Mrs. Dean, 
wife of James Dean, Esquire, Quebec, and William Holmes Coffin, Prothonotary 
of the Superior Court in Montreal. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Sheaffe. Force at his disposal. His dispositions. MacNeil of the 8th. Amorican approach 
— Disembarlc in Humber Bay— Gallant resistance — Slaughter of the Grenadiers. Pike 
lands — Presses on the town — Enters the old fort — Explosion — Destruction of friend 
and foe. Pike killed. Sheaffe retires. The place capitulates. American Vandalism. 
Bishop Strachan. His admirable letter. The farce which follows the tragedy. The 
" human scalp " turns out to be a perriwig. 

As many imputations, some thoughtless, many reckless — all 
equally unjust and ungenerous^-have been cast upon the reputation 
of Sir Roger Sheaffe in relation to the defence of York, it may 
be allowed to a kindred hand, in this place, to vindicate his 
memory. 

York in itself was incapable of defence. All the troops in 
Western Canada would have been insufficient to protect it. The 
regular garrison, if it can be so termed, consisted of a company of 
Glengarries and 50 men of the Royal Newfoundland regiment, 
apart from the militia. This force had been augmented accidentally, 
as has been before said, by two companies of the King's Regiment 
under Captain McNeil. Shcaffe's first duty as a soldier, and as a 
general, looking to the defence of his military command, was, to 
abandon a place never intended to have been defended, and to 
preserve his force for the protection of the country. The capture 
of tliis detachment, at this time, would have been an irretrievable 
loss, and, in its effects, fatal to the Province. 

His first duty, therefore, was, to destroy all public property 
whicli would otlierwisc benefit the enemy, and to fall ))ack cither on 
Kingston or Niagara. The direction of this movement depended 



MILITARY DISPOSITIONS — ATTACK DEVELLOPED. 107 

on tlie developments of the enemy. If they had landed on the 
side of the Don, he would have retired on Burlington heights. 
They assailed him on the west, and he withdrew towards Kingston. 
General Armstrong, the American Secretary at war, wrote to 
General Dearborn, privately, from Washington, 13th May, 1813 : 
" We cannot doubt but that in all cases in which a British com- 
mander is constrained to act defensively, his policy will be that 
adopted by Sheaife, to prefer the preservation of his troops to that 
of his post, and thus carrying off the kernel leave us only the 
shell." * If York had been left defenceless and unprotected ; if 
a ship of war in the hands of the shipwright had been recklessly 
exposed to destruction, the fault was not with Sheaffe, nor with his 
direct superior Sir George Prevost, as charged by Veritas, but 
with the authorities in England who trifled with the emergency 
untn too late, and then, spent treasures in life and money to repair 
an irreparable error. 

On the first alarm, Sheaffe had got his men in hand, and awaited 
what the morning should bring forth. At early dawn, the Ameri- 
can squadron was seen bearing doAvn on Gibraltar Point, and the 
western flank of the town. The plan of attack was at once dis- 
closed. The mouth of the harbour was the threatened point. 
While the ships of war engaged the three mutilated guns, an over- 
whelming force would be thrown ashore, and all retreat to the 
west would be cut off. Sheaffe, thereupon, detached the best part 
of his force to keep the enemy at bay, to check the advance, 
to afford time for the destruction of public property, and to cover 
his slow retreat to Kingston. Captain McNeil, at the head of the 
two companies of the 8th, was ordered on this service, about 200 
mUitia rallied on the flanks of the regulars, and Colonel Givens, 
with a small body of Indians, always notable in the war, already 



Armstrong, Vol. I, p. 87. 



108 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

occupied the woods on the west side of the town, skirmishing to 
ascertain the precise place of landing. 

An eyewitness has described the scene. The American fleet, 
in beautiful order, bore down before a fresh breeze wliich carried 
them beyond the intended point of disembarkation. They had 
fallen to the southwest as far as the eastern extremity of Ilumber 
Bay, ere the sliips of war rounded to, and brought th'eir heavy 
broadsides to bear on the shore. Sail was rapidly taken in, the 
boats assembled under cover of the vessels, — men promptly em- 
barked, and the stalwart rowers, — the best seamen in the American 
service, — bent ready to the oar. 

By this time McNeil, assured of the point of descent, had 
brought his men down the shore road, and had drawn them up in 
line, on the top of the bank which bounds the western side of 
Humber Bay, a startling red line, right in front of the American 
batteries, and at half cannon shot from the muzzle of the guns. 
It was a dauntless, but desperate expedient, " c'ctait Men magni- 
fique, mais ce n^etait pas la guerre.''^ The first American broad- 
side swept the men down like grass before the scythe. Under cover 
of their broadsides, amid the din and smoke, the American boat's 
crews dashed to the shore. 

The disembarkation was well handled. So soon as the keels 
touched ground, the riflemen under Forsyth, sore with recollections 
of Ogdensburg, were overboard, in the water, up the bank, down 
among the bushes, invisible, except where the rapid puffs of white 
smoke bespoke their fatal presence. The boats backed off" in- 
stantaneously, and returned for reinforcements. McNeil himself 
and the greater part of his brave grenadiers had been killed by 
the first cannonade ; the remnant, scattered and shattered, fell back 
from before the lashing fire, and the American rifles, always des- 
paratoly resisted, held their own. A bitter, skirmishing fight 
ensued among the trees. But the eager reinforcements hurried to 



DISEMBARKATION — DESTRUCTION OP 8tH GRENADIERS. 109 

the shore. General Pike of the American army, an officer of 
repute, landed in the rear of the riflemen, at the head of a division 
at least 1000 strong, and the torn relics of the British detach- 
ment, — the reliquioi JDanamn, — slowly fell back upon the town. 

Meanwhile, Sheaffe had collected his stores, dispatched his con- 
voys, and ordered his retreat upon Kingston. The light company 
of the King's regiment, an additional reinforcement for Niagara, 
was rapidly approaching from that direction, and afforded opportune 
support. The ship and the dockyard, and a large quantity of 
marine stores were destroyed, — much removed ; the residue, for the 
most part indestructible in material, fell finally into the hands of 
the enemy. 

General Pike, on his part, had pushed forward, feeling his way 
through the bush, and fighting with an enemy who defended every 
tree. His advance was slow but steady. At about 2 p. m., he 
emerged from the forest in the rear of the old French Fort and 
insignificant harbour defences. The fleet having efiected the dis- 
embarkation weighed anchor and stood up into the harbour itself. 
The simphcity of this operation proves all practical defence to have 
been impossible, and that any more protracted resistance would 
have doomed the town. The American troops pushed on and soon 
enveloped the Fort. It contained at this time within its enceinte 
the government or " King's House," some public offices, the usual 
complement of barracks and store houses, and a powder magazine, 
built into the bank on the lake shore. This must have been a 
recent structure, as Brock, in 1811, complained that " the only 
powder magazine was a small wooden shed only sixty yards from 
the King's House." For safety's sake this dangerous appendage 
had been removed to a strong stone building constructed in the 
water front of the Fort. 

The Americans swarmed into the works, fiery with fighting, and 
flushed with success, when, suddenly — with the crash and concussion 



110 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

of an earthquake, — the powder magazine exploded at their feet, 
spreading havoc through then- ranks. Of the assailants 250 were 
instantaneously killed or wounded ; of the defenders many perished. 

Up to the sky, like rockets, go 
All that mingle there below : 
Many a tall and goodly man, 
Scorched and shrivelled to a span, 
When he fell to earth again, 
Like a cinder, strewed the plain. 
When in cradled rest they lay, 
And each nursing mother smiled 
On the sweet sleep of her child, 
Little thought she such a day 
Would rend those tender limbs away. 

Pike had pushed on to the front and was in the act of question- 
ing a militia soldier, one Joseph Shepherd, whose family still reside 
in the township of York, when — with a flash and eddying smoke — 
the infernal blast swept through the air. A heavy mass of stone 
struck the General down. In like manner. Shepherd was crushed 
at his side, and was borne off in the arms of his relative and fel- 
low soldier, Joseph Dennis, now of Buttonwood, Weston. The 
gallant general and more humble soldier, both died of the injuries 
received, within a few hours, victims alike in the cause of their 
respective countries. 

The contest itself Avas stayed by this catastrophe ; it had en- 
dured for eight hours. The surviving troops had witlidrawn, well 
covered and unmolested by the enemy ; all that could be done had 
been done, and York capitulated through the local officers of militia. 
What remained of the public stores was surrendered, two hundred 
and sixty-four militia men laid down their arms. Sheaffc left behind 
liim of the regulars 62 killed, 72 Avounded ; one wounded officer 
with one sergeant major and four men of the artillery, prisoners of 
war ; and fell back deliberately and without obstruction upon King- 



SHEAIFE RETIRES — RUIN OF PROPERTY — DR. STRACHAN. Ill 

ston. Such are the facts, the inferences are left to the judgment 
of every inteUigent man, soldier or not. 

* * * Si quid novisti rectius istis 
Candidas imperii, si non, his utere mecum. 

It is painful to relate that the American army shamefully abused 
its success, and perpetrated acts of vandalism, which at a later 
period, and in a distant scene, entailed just retribution. 

The details cannot be given more eifectively , than in the vigorous 
language of the Rev. Dr. Strachan, D.D., now the venerable 
Bishop of Toronto, who in a letter addressed to Thomas Jefferson, 
Esquire, of Monticello, ex-president of the United , States of Ame- 
rica, and dated York, 30th January, 1815, expressed himself as 
follows : — " In April, 1813, the pubUc buildings at York, the capi- 
tal of Upper Canada, were burnt by the troops of the United 
States, contrary to the articles of capitulation. They consisted of 
two elegant halls, with convenient offices, for the accommodation 
of the Legislature and of the Courts of Justice. The library, and 
all the papers and records belonging to these institutions were con- 
sumed ; at the same time the church was robbed, and the town 
library totally pillaged. Commodore Chauncey, Avho has generally 
behaved honourably, was so ashamed of this last transaction, that 
he endeavoured to collect the books belonging to the public library, 
and actually sent back two boxes filled with them, but hardly any 
were complete. Much private property was plundered and several 
houses left in a state of ruin. Can you tell me. Sir, why the public 
buildings and the library at Washington should be held more sacred 
than those at York ?"* 

We have here the testimony of an eyewitness, whose evidence 
is beyond challenge. There is not in Canada a man whose career 
has been more thoroughly dovetailed into the moral structure of 

* Vide Appendix No. 1. Letter from Dr. Strachan to Thomas JeflFerson, 
Esquire, in extenso. 



112 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

society, in welfare and in sorrow, than that of John, the revered 
Bishop of Toronto. From a beginning of noble humility, by dint of 
talent and honest energy, he now adorns the episcopate. Sixty- 
four years since, in the grand field of educational labour, he strug- 
gled with, and mastered a rugged soil, which has rendered noble 
increase. It was his great privilege, to have modelled the minds 
and characters of the men, who have since made the country, and 
who have left upon its broad surface, the " tower mark " of ster- 
ling. Whatever differences of opinion may have been, at times, 
entertained as to his course, that course has ever been straightfor- 
ward, truthful, and uncompromising ; and at the age of eighty-five he 
enjoys, in the lusty winter of his years, the well earned respect and 
esteem of all classes of men in Canada. His testimony on the 
subject of the severities, persistently exercised by the American 
armies, is unimpeachable. His remarkable letter will be fomid at 
length in the Appendix. % 

Again, after the tragic scenes which have been narrated, came 
the farce. The Americans occupied some days in removing the 
naval and military stores. The commanders found solace in the 
composition of despatches and in the compilation of catalogues. 
The " spolia opima " were all duly recorded, but the sensational 
trophy of the day, embalmed in a special report from the innocent 
seaman in command on lake Ontario, was " a human scalp" 
alleged to have been found " suspended from the chair of the 
speaker of the House of Assembly." The official circles at York 
were a little scandalized and more amused at this announcement ; 
by some it was regarded simply as a mauvaise plaisanterie, others 
it puzzled, but at last it eked out, that the shocking trophy so loudly 
paraded, was in reaUty a periwig, — an official peruke, dropped in 
the confusion, and transported in triumph to Washington, to find a 
place by the side of the " stand of colours " captured in the wig- 
wam of the Indian interpreter at St. Il(^gis. 

The Americans evacuated York on the 2nd May, 1813. 



CHAPTER X. 

American programme. Modification. Fall of York. Newark threatened. Description 
of Newark. Fort Niagara. Fort George. Climate and country. La Salle. Sketch 
of his exploits. Discovers the Mississippi. Fort George burnt. Rebuilt by Denon- 
ville. Colonel Dongau, Governor of the Province of New York, objects to the build- 
ing of a Fort at " Ohniagro." Baron de Longueuil — Record of this family. Fort 
Niagara taken by the British, 1759. Surrendered to United States, 1796. Upper 
Canada created a separate Province, 1791. Governor Simcoe. His career. Newark 
his capital. Yisit of Duke of Kent, 1793. Compared with that of Prince of Wales, 
1860. 

The programme of the American commanders had at first 
embraced the reduction of Kingston, York, and Fort George or 
Newark. The attack on Kingston had been abandoned; York 
had succumbed ; and Newark, distant only a few hours' sail, un- 
supported and indefensible, laj at their mercy. 

Contrary winds, however, thwarted all endeavours, and they did 
not arrive off the coast of Niagara before the 8th of May. They 
disembarked at the mouth of a streamlet known as Four-mile 
Creek, on the American shore of Lake Ontario, and, as its name 
imphes, situate about four miles to the east of Fort Niagara. 
Here, for nearly three weeks, the expedition lingered, while 
Chauncey was employed in removing his wounded to Sackett's 
Harbour, and in transporting from thence reinforcements and heavy 
ordnance, preparatory to the attack on the British position at Fort 
George. 

We may occupy the interval by describing the main features of 
this part of Canada. 

The mouth of the river Niagara aflforded one of the finest harbours 

H 



114 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

on Lake Ontario. Safe of access, secure in its anchorage, and pro- 
tected from every wind, it was at the same time exposed to this 
drawback in a state of warfare — it was open to the fire of both 
shores, and was, therefore, useless to either party. The river is 
at this point about 800 yards wide. On the eastern shore, where 
it joins the lake, stands Fort Niagara. Fort George and its de- 
pendency, the town of Newark, stood on the western bank of the 
river, somewhat withdrawn from the lake shore. Fort Niagara 
commanded the entrance to the river ; Fort George dominated the 
harbor, and made it untenable by an enemy. 

But the town of Newark, on the British side of the river, lay 
under the guns of Fort Niagara, opposite ; and though Fort 
George, in the event of an attack, might retaliate and punish 
aggression, it could, in no way, protect the town. The course of 
human events had reversed all human relations ; and Fort Niagara, 
which, from its foundation, had been to the town a fostering friend 
and defender, had, by the provisions of treaties and the fate of 
war, been converted into a shape of fear and a standing menace. 

The traditions of the spot are as interesting as the site is beau- 
tiful. The scene is at once historic and picturesque. Within sound 
of the roar of Niagara ; within sight of Qucenston Heights ; 
surrounded by a country of imrivalled fertility ; a tessellated par- 
terre of fruit, flowers, and foliage ; where the grape, and the peach, 
and the apple and pear flourish side by side ; in a chmate soft and 
genial ; under skies as blue as those of Italy, and ])athed in an 
atmosphere more pure and translucent. Here, on the banks of a 
river exulting and abounding, whose winding-way, like that of the 
High Street at Oxford, is its main feature of beauty, and just 
where its waters blend with the aqua marine of Ontario, rise now 
the ramparts of Niagara and the venerable ruins of Fort George, 
the Scstos and Abydos of that Golden Horn. 

The scene is worthy, at once, of the pencil of Claude and of the 



FORT NIAGARA — LA SALLE — BARON DE LONGUEUIL. 115 

pen of Froissart, for it teems with memories of the deeds of adven- 
turous men. Here, in 1678, the heroic La Salle, built his first 
fort ; a few miles further on, above the cataract, on Navy Island, 
opposite to the mouth of Chippeway Creek, he built his first ship. 
Men yet living recollect to have seen, in early youth, on this, then, 
well-wooded island, the charred remains of burnt ships and other 
relics of his extemporaneous dockyard. From hence, in 1679, he 
launched his first bark of European structure, on the unknown 
water, of the upper lakes. He named her the Grifibn, armed her 
with seven guns, and with his friend Tonti, and the celebrated 
Recollet, Pere Hennepin, dared the watery wilderness of Erie, 
threaded the mazes of the Detroit, gave a name to lake St. Clair, 
penetrated into lake Huron, visited Michilimacinac, explored Mi- 
chigan, and closed his great career by discovering the Mississippi 
and founding Louisiana. 

The trading post at the mouth of the Niagara, erected by 
Robert Cavalier de La Salle, was burnt a few years afterwards ; 
and, in 1687, was re-established by the Marquis de Denonville, 
Governor General of Canada, in a more permanent form, on the 
site of the present Fort Niagara. Denonville describes the locality 
as " the most beautiful — the most pleasing — the most advantar 
geous site that is on the whole of this lake." 

But the establishment of a French fortress upon the English 
side of the river Niagara, aroused at once the jealousy and the 
indignation of the Provincials ; and Colonel Dongan, the EngUsh 
Governor of the province of New York, remonstrated strongly 
against the building of a French fort at " Ohniagro ; " and in 
1687 he solicited from the board of trade of the province of New 
York, an order to build a " campagne fort at Ohniagro." 

The works, estabhshed by Denonville, were abandoned in 1688, 
and so remained untU 1725, when the Baron de Longueuil* com- 

* This Baron de Longueuil must have beea the second of the name. He had 



116 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

menced a stone cavalier, and completed it in the next year. 
Chaussegros, the French engineer employed, represents that the 
work -was erected on the spot where an ancient fort had been built 
by order of Denonville. 

With the fall of French dominion on this continent, came the 
fall of Fort Niagara. It had been by degrees enlarged and 
strengthened, and in 1759 was held for the French King, by M. 
Pouchot, who had under his command some 500 men. It was 



served from his youth ia the French armies, and died Governor of Montreal. 
The third Baron de Longueuil, Charles Jacques Le Moyne, was born af^the 
Chateau de Longueuil, 26th Jan., 1724. He commanded the French troops at 
the battle of Monongahela, 9th July, 1755. He was made Chevalier de St. 
Louis and Governor of Montreal. The Marquis de Vaudreuil relates in a 
despatch dated 8th September, 1755, that this distinguished officer, serving under 
Baron Dieskau, had disappeared in a skirmish on the shores of Lake George, 
and was believed to have fallen a victim to Indian treachery, if not to Indian 
cruelty. He was then 31 years of age. He left an only daughter to whom the 
Barony descended, and who as Baroness de Longueuil married Captain Grant 
of the 94th Regt. at Quebec, 7th May, 1781. This noble and exemplary lady, who 
was the embodiment of all the graceful and generous and chivalrous qualities 
so much prized by the French Canadians, died in 1842 at the advanced age of 
85 years, an object of universal respect, as she was to the last, the object of 
universal love. Her son, the Hon. Charles Grant, M.L.C., succeeded to the 
Barony and title. He had married Caroline, the eldest daughter of the late 
General John Coffin of Alwington Manor, New Brunswick, and niece lo ihe 
late Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, Bart. This lady still lives with her brother, 
Admiral John Townsend Coffin, in Bath, Somerset, England. The late Baron, 
who died in 1848, was succeeded by his son, the present Baron de Longueuil, who 
resides on the Continent of Europe. The House of Longueuil is connected by 
marriage with the Baby, De Beaujeu, Le Moyne, de Montenach, de Lanaudiere, 
de Ciasp(5, de la Gorgendiere, d'Escluimbault, and several other of the old 
families in Canada. 

And of these old families it is one of the oldest and of the most honourable. 
Lc Moyne is the patronymic of the maison de Longueuil. They are of Norman 



SIEGE OF 1759 — DEATH OF PRIDEAUX. 117 

besieged by Brigadier General Prideaux, at the head of 8200 men 
and 600 Indians. The place was regularly invested, parallels 
opened, and batteries estabhshed. On the 20th July, General 
Prideaux was killed by the bursting of a cohorn ; and the com- 
mand devolved on Sir William Johnston, of Mohawk celebrity. 
On the 24th July, an attempt was made to reheve Pouchot, by a 
French and Indian force from lake Erie. The besiegers obtained 
intelligence of the advance, and encountered it by an ambuscade 



extraction, descended originally from a Count of Salagne en Biscaye, who took 
part in 1428 with Charles VII. and Joan d'Arc, la Pucelle d'Orleans, against 
the English. This Count de Salagne married Margaret de la Tremouille, 
daughter of the Count des Guines who was also Grand Chambellan de France, 
one of the oldest families of the kingdom. [Taken from a " Chapter on Cana- 
dian Nobility" in Ma''e Leaves, an interesting contribution to Canadian Lit- 
erature, by J, M. Lemoine, Quebec] 

The Barony de Longueuil in Canada was a creation of the Grand Monarque. 
Louis XIV, by royal Letters Patent, bearing date at Versailles, 27th January, 
1700, erected the Seignory of Longueuil into a Barony, and rarely indeed have 
distinctions been conferred for more distinguished services. In those days it 
was the practice to detail on the face of a patent of honour the honourable 
exploits of which it was the recompense. The same practice now enhances 
the value of the Victoria Cross. This document, which is recorded in the 
Register of proceedings of the Superior Council of Quebec, recapitulates, first, 
"The services rendered to us by Charles Le Moyne, Esquire, Seignior of 
Longueuil, who left France in 1640 to reside in Canada, where his valour and 
fidelity were so often conspicuous in the war against the Iroquois, that our 
Governor and Lieutenant Governors in that country employed him, constantly, 
in every military expedition, and in every negotiation and treaty of peace, of 
all which duties he acquitted himself to their entire satisfaction ; also the 
services of his eldest son, Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil, who had borne arms 
from his youth in the Regiment de St. Laurent, and as a Captain of a naval 
detachment in Canada since 1687, who had an arm shot off by the Iroquois in 
a combat at Lachine, wherein seven of his brothers were also engaged — further- 
more of the services of Jacques Le Moyne de Ste. Helene, another son, Captain 



118 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

on the side of Lewiston, under the command of Captain James de 
Lancey. The French were surprised, deserted by their Indian 
allies, and defeated. Pouchot was informed of the extent of the 
disaster by Sir WiUiam Johnston, and was offered most honourable 
terms, which he accepted, after a defence which entitled him to all 
that was offered. Thus on the 25th July, 1759, Fort Niagara fell 
into the hands of the English. 

The fort remained in British possession up to the year 1783, 



in the Marine, who was killed in defending Quebec against Phipps in 1690 — 
also of Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, another son, Captain of a sloop of war, 
who captured Fort Corland in Hudson's Bay, and still commands a frigate. 
Also, of another, Joseph Le Movne de Bienville who was killed by the Iroquois 
in an attack on Repentigny ; also of Louis Le Moyne de Chateauguay, who fell 
in the taking of Fort Bourbon in Hudson's Bay ; also the services of Paul Le 
Moyne de Marricourt, an Ensign in the navy and Captain of a Company in the 
naval detachment of marines in service on shore. That for these and other 
considerations, equally creditable, but too lengthy to enumerate here, the 
most Christian king elevates the Seigniory of Longueuil to the rank, name, title, 
and dignity of a Barony, in favour of the said Charles Le Moyne, his children, 
heirs and descendants. Rarely indeed, on the wider fields of Christendom, 
have there been arrayed worthier titles to knightly distinction. 

Long as is the list of those meritorious men contained in this Royal docu- 
ment, it does not enumerate them all nor their services. Charles Le Moyne, 
"who left France in 1640" the leader in the above Letters Patent named, was 
the father of eleven sons. It will be observed that each is distinguished by 
the name of the fief or other property with which he had been invested. Six 
are named in the ade of 1700. Besides these, two brothers, Joseph Le Moyne 
de Sevigny and Gabriel Le Moyne d' Assigny, both died in the King's service. 
Antoine Le Moyne died young. Antoine Le Moyne de Chateauguay succeeded 
Louis Le Moyne de Chateauguay who was killed in 1694. Jean Baptiste 
Le Moyne de Bienville succeeded to the Le Moyne de Bienville who was killed 
defending a burning- house against the Iroquois. 

In a memorial from Jean Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville to the king, dated 
New Orleans, Jan. 25, 1723, after setting forth his services, he describes him- 



FAMILY OF LONGUEUIL — LE MOYNE D'iBERVILLE. 119 

when it was surrendered to the Americans, though not practically 
abandoned until 1796, under Jay's treaty. During the period of 
French possession, a village, in connection with the fort, had grown 
up on the western side of the river, being French territory, and, 
therefore, more safe. The fort was looked upon as an outpost more 
likely to occupy the attention of regular assailants, and deter plun- 
derers ; and the village, secure in its insignificance, reposed under 
its wing;. 



self as a Chevalier de St. Louis, and Commander General of the Province of 
Louisiana. He states in it, that of eleven brothers only four were then surviving. 
Baron de Longueuil — himself Bienville — Sevigny, and Chateauguay, and that 
they had all received the cross of knights of St. Louis. These details were 

collected in Paris by Falconer, Esquire, son of the late Dr. Falconer, of 

the Circus, Bath, and brother in law to William Roebuck, Esquire, M. P. for 
Sheffield, England. 

But the most distinguished of this band of brothers — the one whose name 
will live while the Father of Rivers continues to flow to the sea, was the dis- 
coverer of the Mississippi. La Salle, as is stated in the text, ascended the lakes 
and descended the Mississippi, and was therefore justly entitled to claim the 
first discovery of the prodigious territory watered by that majestic river and 
its affluents ; but the first person of European origin who entered the Mississippi 
from the sea — was the born Canadian, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville. He was an 
officer of the French marine. He had seen much hard and fierce service in 
Canada and Hudson's Bay. He was made Captain of a frigate in 1692. He 
visited France in 1695. He left it with three vessels. Entered and ascended 
the Mississippi nearly one hundred leagues, established a garrison and returned 
to France in 1699. He was decorated with the Croix de St. Louis. He subse- 
quently made two successful voyages to the same coast ; left settlements, and 
in 1720 was promoted to the rank of "Capitaine de vaisseau." In 1706, he was 
again despatched to the Mississippi charged with an important command. He 
died on his way, at the Havanah, 9th July, 1706. He was born at Montreal. 
What Burckhardt and Speke and Grant have done for the Nile — La Salle did for 
the Mississippi, but the mouth and the mysterious delta of the river, and the 
site of the present great city of New Orleans, were discovered by a Canadian, 
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville. 



120 CHRONICLE OP THE WAR. 

But when, In 1796, the French fort became an American out- 
work, the Avhole aspect of the frontier changed. The fortress, which 
had afforded protection, became a coign of vantage and exposure. 
The artillery, which had provided defence, menaced destruction. 
In the interim, in 1791, was passed the act 31, Geo. Ill, which 
divided Canada into two provinces, and conferred a constitution 
which was confided to the judicious administration of Governor 
Simcoe. This officer found the military head-quarters of his gov- 
ernment at Fort Niagara, and estabhshed his miniature capital in 
the transflu\ial town, to which he gave the name of Newark. 
Governor Simcoe was a remarkable man, and a becoming companion 
of the dramatis personce of this historical scene. Unlike La Salle, 
he was not the creature of his aspirations. He did not, in quest of 
an Eldorado, or of the fountain of perpetual youth, discover a 
vast territory, but in the steady practical spirit, in the spirit of the 
Puritan Pilgrims, he founded in Upper Canada a great English 
colony. He was an Englishman by birth, had been educated at 
Eton and Oxford, and animated by a passion for a military hfe, at 
the age of 19 obtained an Ensigncy in the 3<5th Regiment. His 
first essay in arms was in America. He was distinguished at once 
for military knowledge, activity, and sense. His earnestness and pro- 
ficiency had their reward. In 1777, Sir William Howe appointed 
Simcoe to the command of the Queen's Rangers, a partisan corps 
which performed conspicuous service during the war of the Revolution, 
and was finally disbanded after the surrender of Cornwallis at York- 
town, 19th Oct. 1782. He has left a Journal of the operations of 
this corps, well worthy of the perusal of the military student. In 
the intervals of camp life, in the leisure of winter quarters, Simcoe 
had become a student himself, and had trained his mind to tl\e dis- 
charge of great duties on a wider field of usefulness. Colonel 
Simcoe returned to England. He had acquired rei)utation. He 
was elected to Parhament in 1790. He took an active part in the 



GOVERNOR SIMCOE — HIS CAREER. 121 

debates on the Bill which divided the Province of Quebec and gave 
a Constitution to Upper Canada. He was appointed the first 
Lieut.-Governor under that Constitution. He devoted himself to 
the judicious settlement of the colony. The present site of Lon- 
don was selected originally by him as the site of the capital of 
Upper Canada. But, at that early period, it was inaccessible — 
York received, and retains the honour. Simcoe devoted himself 
to surveying the country, improvuag and peophng it. He invited 
the Loyahsts from the United States, and he attracted settlers, 
military and others, by a prompt allotment of lands and a just rule. 
He planted the British Constitution in a virgin soil, put it upon 
trial, in a fair field without favour, and appealed to results ; and 
a trial of seventy years has justified his faith in the success of the 
experiment. He left behind him, through the land, the marks of 
his footsteps — vestigia nulla retr or suin. In 1794 he was ordered 
to St. Domingo. Thence to England, where in 1801 he was em- 
ployed in the western counties in organizing resistatice against 
expected invasion. He was then a Lieut.-General. In 1806 he 
was sent to Portugal — was taken ill on the voyage, and returned 
to England to die in the meridian of life, aged 54. Had he lived 
he might have shared in the immortality of Wellington. His 
energy and talent and experience were full of promise. He died 
unconscious of the fact, that before he reached his native shore, 
he had been appointed to succeed Lord Lake in the chief military 
command in India. 

His residence was in a log building, of some pretensions among 
log dwellings, situate on the Canadian side of the river, in the town 
of Newark, and known as Navy Hall. His council sat in a wooden 
shed, and the council-chamber was, in those primitive and peaceful 
days, used by Catholics and Protestants alternately, as a place 
worship — the lion laid down with the lamb in patriarchial quietude. 
The first parliament of Canada assembled in 1792, 17th Sept., 



122 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

in a marquee-tent — one remove in the scale of ascending civiliza- 
tion from the aboriginal council-lodge. In 1793 Governor Simcoe 
entertained, at Newark, His Rojal Highness the Duke of Kent, 
the father of our beloved Queen. It is recorded, that if the lodg- 
ing was indiiferent, the fare was good. It is related in contemporary 
memoranda that the guests were feasted " with game, and all the 
dainties the season and the wilderness could produce, such as 
white-fish, trout, wild-fowl, roast beef, ale, old port, and Madeira, 
of better quality," adds the narrator, in the true spirit of the 
laudator temporis acti, " than can be got in the present year of 
grace, 1862."* 

His Royal Highness had been conveyed to Niagara in the King's 
schooner, Mohawk, commanded by Commodore Bouchette, the grand- 
father of the present Commissioner of Customs. On landing, 
" as soon as horses with saddles and bridles could be mustered," 
the royal party wended their way by the river road, recently opened 
by the troops : the portage road, frequented by traffic, had previ- 
ously been restricted to the eastern, or American, bank of the river 
Niagara. The road to the cataract was an Indian path through 
the woods ; and an Indian ladder, which consists of a succession of 
pine trees, with the branches lopped short as a foot-hold, led down 
for IGO feet, to the foot of the Fall. Down this hazardous descent, 
in despite of all expostulation, His Royal Highness resolved to 
venture, and, Avith the nerve and physical strength of his race, 
accomplished it successfully — returned with a capital appetite, and 
in a log hut on the quivering brink of the abyss, " ate what the 
house afforded, and enjoyed himself exceedingly."! 

It is interesting to contrast this royal reception in the back bush, 
with the reception of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in 



• Memoranda of Colonel John Clark, of St. Catherines. 
t Mem. Col. John Clark. 



DUKE OF KENT, 1793 — PRINCE OF WALES, 1860. 123 

the same locality, seventy years afterwards. The endurance of 
the grandson was not exposed to trials such as these ; and those 
trials which civilization imposes upon princes, were encountered 
with a genial grace which reminded the present generation of the 
traditionary kindliness of the grandsire. And yet it may be doubted 
if the Prince of Wales enjoyed the crowd, and the crush, and the 
congratulations, and the cheers, which rose above the roar of the 
cataract, with half the zest, with which the Duke of Kent, with the 
flush of exhilarating exercise on his cheek, and the perfume of the 
pine branches on his hands and garments, partook of the rude cheer 
of the forest, in the door-way of a shanty, in full front of the Falls 
of Niagara — the sole monarch of all he surveyed — within sight 
and sound of the grandest spectacle that ever greeted royal eye. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Seat of Government removed from Newark to York. Fort George still Military Head- 
Quarters. American attack on Fort George and Newark. General Vincent in com- 
mand. American forces. British strength. American force on lauding. British 
retire. Fort George falls. Vincent occupies Beaver Dam. Descriijtion. 

In 1796 all the forts on the frontier of the United States, — La 
Presentation, or Ogdensburg, called also Oswegatchie ; Oswego ; 
Niagara ; Fort Miami, were finally transferred in accordance with 
Jay's treaty, to the American authorities. At Niagara the change 
produced much inconvenience. In the short space during which 
Newark had possessed the advantages and the honours of the capital, 
it had increased commercially. It had grown under the fostering 
influence of centralization ; but it would have been improvident 
and unsafe to have left the government and the archives of the 
legislature exposed to unpleasant alternatives, and Governor Sim- 
coe, with prompt prudence, removed the seat of government to 
Toronto, which in honour of a royal Duke, he had named York. 

Newark, however, still retained much of its former importance. 
It continued to be the head quarter of the troops ; and the 
bastions and curtains of Fort George gradually rose up in grim 
rivalry to the more regular and substantial fort on the other side 
of the river* Fort Niagara still retains the strong development 
and regular aspect imparted to it by scientific French engineers, 
before the conquest of Canada. It is now a large, well-constructed 
work, faced with stone, ditched and palisaded, fit at any time for 
military occupation and service. The defences of Fort George 
have, long since, dissolved into huge, unmeaning, inoffensive mounds 



DEFENCES OF NIAGARA — ATTACKING FORCE. 125 

of earth — monuments of an expenditure of life and treasure, 
without result and almost without object. 

The uselessness of the fort, in a military point of view, and the 
lamentable expense and loss entailed by its occupation, were memo- 
rably shown on the occasion of the hostile descent now to be 
related. The whole British force quartered in Fort George and 
cantoned in Newark, on the 27th May, 1813, amounted to 1340 
men, with eight field guns, under the command of General Vincent. 
Four twenty-four-pounders, captured from Hull, had been brought 
from Detroit, and were mounted on the bastions of Fort George ; 
a fifth was planted en harhette, in a redoubt, lying between Newark 
and the lake shore. Fort George afibrded some defence against 
an enemy descending the river Niagara, in the rear, but the town 
obstructed fire upon an assailant approaching from the lake shore. 
It is evident that if an enemy, superior in number, had thrown a 
force across the river above the town and Fort George, instructed 
to form a junction with troops to disembark at One-mile Creek, 
Newark and its defenders would have been cut off", and enclosed 
within a narrow triangle — the river on one side, the lake shore on 
the other, and the enemy's line the base. It would thus have 
been invested by 6,000 * good troops in front, and exposed to the 
fire from Fort Niagara in the rear. That this manoeuvre had 
been contemplated is to be inferred from the fact that a flotilla of 
boats had been assembled at the Five-mile Meadows, about two 
miles below Lewiston. It was also a pet project with the Ameri- 
can Secretary of State for war.f 



* IngersoU. 

t If, instead of concentrating his whole forces, naval and military, on the 
water side of the enemy's defences, he had divided the attack, and, crossing 
the Niagara below Lewiston, had advanced on Fort Greorge by the Queenstown 
road, the investment of that place would have been complete, and a retreat of 
the garrison impracticable. — Armstrong. 



126 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

The forces of the Americans were ample, and in every way 
adequate to the attempt. Generals Dearborn and Lewis, Boyd, 
Windsor, and Chandler were at the head of at least 6000 men. 
The American squadron, under . Commodore Chauncey, consisted 
of eleven vessels of war, with a fighting broadside of 52 guns — 
many of them long thirty-two and eighteen-pounders. His crews 
mustered 900 choice seamen. This immense superiority was well- 
known to the British general ; and it is only to be lamented that 
a sentiment of military punctilio, exacerbated, possibly, by the 
reproaches recently flung upon Sheaffe, should have induced him to 
dare a useless contest against overwhelming odds, and to have 
sacrificed 445 good soldiers, whose services at Stoney Creek would 
have been invaluable. Vincent, however, had resolved not to give 
vray without a fight, and disposed his men accordingly. He placed 
gn advanced detachment of the Glengarry and Newfoundland regi- 
ments, numbering about 250 rank and file, with 40 Indians, under 
Norton, in a ravine and copse at the outlet of One-mile Creek, a 
small rivulet situated about one mile west of Newark ; in their 
rear, within supporting distance, was the left column, under Colonel 
Myer, 470 strong, protected by three light field pieces ; while his 
right column, 600 bayonets, under Colonel Harvey, was drawn up 
between Newark and Fort George, except about 50 men of the 
49th foot and 80 of the militia, who occupied the fort itself. 

At day-light on the 27th May, the American flotilla — ships of 
war and swarms of boats — were discovered bearing down before a 
light breeze, from the eastward upon Missisagua Point. At the 
same time the batteries of Fort Niagara opened upon Fort George 
and Newark ; but a heavy fog settling down suddenly, the cannon- 
ade ceased for a while, with little harm done, except to the toT\Ti. 
During the lull, three heavy schooners swept in, so as, to enfilade 
the British twenty-four and nine-pounder guns en barbette. About 
8 a.m. the fog lifted and discovered the American flotilla bearing 



LANDING EFFECTED — THE BRITISH RETIRE. 127. 

down in three lines, towards One-mile Creek. As the boats ap- 
proached the shore, the British advance sprang to the bank, and 
tore them with so severe a fire, that the men cowered down for 
safety. Then the Oneida, and the Madison, and the Lady of the Lake, 
opened with their heavy cannon, and hke Graham's artillery, at 
St. Sebastian, playing over the heads of the stormers, threw their 
shot over their own boats into the exposed ranks of the British, and 
with admirable precision. The fate of the brave McNeil, at York, 
was re-enacted, and the storm-struck line staggered back on its 
supports. 

So soon as the boats touched ground, the Americans plunged 
into the water, and rushed to the shore. Their officers ralhed and 
formed them with bravery and coolness ; but the brief time occu- 
pied in formation, enabled the left column, under Myer, incorpo- 
rating the remnant of the advance, to reach the top of the bank ; 
and the Americans were repeatedly driven back and thrust down 
at the point of the bayonet ; but the brigades of Winder and 
Chandler had reinforced the first. The twenty-four-pounder gun 
at Missisagua had been silenced ; the nine-pounder, served by 
militia, bravely fought on, until almost every gunner had been 
killed or woimded ; and the deadly fire from the ships enfiladed 
Myer's column. The Colonel himself was down, desperately hurt. 
Every mounted officer, but one, was hit, and the exception lost his 
horse. Of a column of 470 strong, 204 regular and 85 militia 
were hors de combat. Fortune kindly spared the man who was 
most wanted. Harvey took Myer's place, and falhng back on his 
own right column, which he had left for the moment in charge of 
Plenderleath, drew up his whole force in order of battle in the 
plain. This was to the west of the town and fort, on the line of 
retreat. 

So soon, however, as the enemy had landed on the top of the 
bank and formed, a cloud of light troops and riflemen had been 



128 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

thrown upon the road to Burhngton Heights, to intercept this 
movement. The American army had divided into two columns, and, 
strongly supported by artillery, followed in the same direction. To 
delay further, simply to indulge the dogged rage of resistance, 
were to tempt destruction. Vincent, yielding in his extremity, 
ordered his outlying posts at Fort Erie and Cliippewa to join him, 
and directing Fort George to be blown up, gathered up the shat- 
tered remnants of his forces, and fell back upon the strong position 
of the "Beaver Dam," unmolested, leaving behind him, on the 
stricken field, 445 of his best and bravest men. 

About noon, on that day, the Americans took quiet possession of 
Fort George. The 50 men of the 49th, who had been left to 
destroy the magazines, being entirely cut off, fell into the hands of 
the enemy. The American loss amounted to about 150. On 
reaching the Beaver Dam, Vincent was joined by Colonel Bishopp, 
from Fort Erie, and Major Ormsby, from Chippewa ; and thus 
reinforced, mustered 1,G00 rank and file. Had he destroyed Fort 
George and retired to this position at early dawn, he would, in the 
words of Mr. Secretary Armstrong, " have adopted the policy of 
Sheaflfe, have preferred the preservation of his troops to that of his 
post, and carrying off the kernel would have left the enemy the 
shell." 

Vincent had retired to the Beaver Dam, covering his retreat on 
Burlington Heights. A beaver dam, or beaver meadow, is a com- 
mon feature of the wilderness. The sagacious labourer has long 
since receded before the footsteps of the settler, and the range of 
the trapper ; but liis handy-work remains in evidence of his indus- 
try and skill. It is tlie practice of the beaver, when nature does 
not offer a pond or lake fit for the safe structure of his dwelling, 
to form an artificial overflow. He selects a gorge between hills, 
or uplands on each side of a running stream, and with his jteeth, 
and i)aws, and some slight aid from his tail, he cuts down trees, and 



BEAVER DAM — MILITARY POSITION — DE HAREN. 129 

floats them to the site selected ; with his paws he moves stones, 
and earth, and branches ; he intertwines, and overlays, and plas- 
ters — and thus he creates a dam, with a rare certainty of instinctive 
calculation as to the depth and area of water to be obtained, and of 
the strength and substance required for its retention. Many of 
these beaver dams have been found twelve feet in thickness at the 
base, as many feet in height, and extending across valleys of con- 
siderable width. It is the work of conjoint labour, organized and 
applied with the economy of human intelligence. The construction 
of the dam has, most probably, flooded a large tract of land in the 
rear, and has destroyed vegetation ; but on the disappearance 
of the engineer, the dam has fallen into decay ; a new vege- 
tation of rank grass has sprung up on the subsidence of water, and 
in the rear of the deserted beaver dam has grown up a beaver 
meadow. This is an attraction to the early settler — it affords to 
his cow, pasture in summer, and hay in winter ; and his first shanty 
is placed in its vicinity. 

The military position of the Beaver Dam was about twelve 
miles from Niagara, on the road to the Heights ; and one Decau 
had built a stone house hard by, which became at once a depot for 
military stores, and a point d'appui. The dam itself, an embank- 
ment, might then have been looked to, as a breastwork in case of 
attack, but little trace remains of it now. It was then chiefly 
valued as commanding the cross-road to Ten-mile Creek, now St. 
Catherines, where Major de Haren lay, with 220 men. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Lake Ontario, Kingston. Sackett's Harbour. Expectations and preparations. I>r. Rich- 
ardson, D.D.— His Career and Record. Departure of Squadron. Sights Sackett's 
Harbour and withdraws. Capture of American Officer of Dragoons. The Expedition 
retires— Preparations for landing. Preparations for resistance. General Jacob Brown. 
Colonel Baocus. Landing effected. Americans defeated — fire the stores and ships on 
the stocks. The British ordered to retreat. Withdrawal of the Expedition. 

Leaving General Vincent to rally around him his outlying detach- 
ments, and to organize his retreat upon Burlington Heights, we 
will now turn to events of equal moment, which took place at the 
same time, at the eastern or lower extremity of Lake Ontario. 
Here, where the waters' of the lake contracting, assume the dimen- 
sions of a river, the St. Lawrence, embracing in its thousand 
arms the far-famed " Thousand Isles," commences, under that 
name, its glorious and rapid course to the sea. On the north shore 
of the lake, at the mouth of the River Cataraqui, stands the town 
and fine harbour of Khigston, whilome selected, and with much 
judgment, as the scat of government for United Canada. It would 
be out of place here, to dwell upon the passions and the prejudices, 
or the policies, which have made this costly and coveted prize, ever 
since the disturbance of the arrangement mentioned, an apple of 
discord, cast down, in turn, to the competition and confusion of 
every important city in the province ; which has convulsed parlia- 
ments, destroyed ministries, which yields only, and with reluctance, 
to the arbitrament of the Queen ; and against which, even now, 
though the masses approve, each disappointed competitor exclaims, 
in the spirit of an epigram on the marriage of oui- Second Charles 
to Catharine of Brai^auza. 



KINGSTON — ITS FORTUNES — SACKETT's HARBOUR. 131 

Here 's a health to Kate, 

Our Sovereign's mate, 
Of the royal house of Lisbon ; 

But the devil take Hyde, 

And the Bishop beside, 
Who made her bone of his boae. 

Here, in 1673, with the tact and foresight of a soldier, the Count 
de Frontenac, then Governor of Canada, estabhshed a fort, called, 
at j&rst Cataraqui, and afterwards by his own name, which fell into 
the hands of the British in 1759-60. In 1787 the British abandoned 
their previous naval establishment, on Carleton Island, which hap- 
pened to fall within the American boundary line, and, from that 
time, Kingston became their chief establishment on Lake Ontario, 
their best harbour, and the focus from whence radiated their 
future settlements on the shores of the lake, and the River St. 
Lawrence. 

On the opposite coast of this northern Bosphorus, sheltered by 
large intervening islands, hes Sackett's Harbour — the American 
Cherbourg, as it has been called, — but with little to suggest the 
comparison, beyond a small and safe harbour, and defensible envi- 
rons. Without comparing Kingston to Portsmouth, it was the 
only British naval establishment on Lake Ontario ; and without 
exaggerating the strength of Sackett's Harbour, it had sheltered 
and equipped a fine squadron which, under Commodore Chauncey, 
had sacked York, and reduced Fort George. 

Both Kingston and Sackett's Harbour had, for long, been objects 
of mutual apprehension. Enterprises had been planned on both 
sides for the destruction of either, as a sure means of naval su- 
premacy, and ultimate conquest ; but up to a very late period the 
opportunities of the Americans had exceeded those of the British. 
How far they had improved their chances has been already shown ; 
but the arrival of Sir James Yeo at Kingston, early in the month, 
with about 500 officers and men, of the Royal Navy, and the com- 



132 CHRONICLE OP THE WAR. 

pletion of an additional vessel of war, the Wolfe, of 20 guns, justi- 
fied the hope that the chances of war had at length turned in 
favour of the British. 

These chances appeared to the popular eye to be reduced to a 
certainty when it became known that Chauncey and his fleet, and 
Dearborn with his soldiers, were in front of Niagara ; that to supply 
the means of attack they had dismantled and disarmed Sackett's 
Harbour, and that the stores and ships in course of construction, 
and the arsenal, naval and military, had been left to the protection 
of the militia of the country. 

Expectation, too, rose to the highest pitch when it was an- 
nounced that the Commander-in-Chief was himself in Kingston; 
that an attack upon Sackett's Harbour had been planned ; and that 
the combined forces would be commanded by Sir George Provost 
and Commodore Sir James Yeo, in person. The preparations 
made under the circumstances were such as to reassure the least 
sanguine. Sir George Provost, surrounded by able officers, had 
under his command 750 men, detailed from the following regi- 
ments : the 100th, the Royal Scots, the 8th, the 104th, the New- 
foundland regiment, one company of the Glengarries, two companies 
of Canadian Voltigeurs, and two six-pounders, with their gunners. 
This force was conveyed in the Wolfe, 20 guns, the flag-sliip of 
Sir James Yeo ; the Royal George, 20 guns ; Moira, 16 guns ; 
Melville Brig, 16 guns ; Netley schooner ; and smaller vessels. 

The expedition sailed from Kingston early on the morning of the 
27th May, at the hour when, the first echoes of the American guns 
reverberated on the shores of Niagara, and Chauncey and Scott 
were engaged, hand-to-hand, with Myer and Harvey. The weather 
being favourable, and the wind fair, the flotilla arrived oflf Sackett's 
Harbour about 10 a.m- 

The accounts of the subsequent occurrences, both American and 
British, differ in all but the result. The Americans exaggerate 



A^TTEMPT ON SACKETt's HARBOUR — DR. RICHARDSON, D.D. 133 

an irresolute resistance crowned by an undeserved success. The 
British, bhnd with rage and mortification, prove but blind guides 
to the confused enquirer. Sir George Provost, though an adept 
with his pen, upon this occasion, did not write his own commentaries ; 
and the letter of his adjutant^general, Colonel Baines, affords but 
an imperfect explanation of this inexplicable transaction. 

But the difficulty whicli clouded this page of the narrative, has 
been, to a great extent, dispelled, by an unexpected and friendly 
hand ; and a light has been cast upon the movements and the men 
of this expedition, by private memoranda, which we have been most 
kindly permitted to use, and which command at once our respect 
and acknowledgments. 

The witness, on this occasion, is well known to most men in 
Canada. To those who have attended, of late years, the numerous 
military gatherings on Queenston Heights, it is easy to recall one 
familiar face and figure. It is a tall and venerable form, of gentle 
aspect, but soldierly port — of grave costume, becoming the years of 
one 

Whose age is like a lusty winter- 
Frosty, but kindly — 

and whose left breast is decorated by a Canada medal* and an 



• Since the above was in print, the writer has been informed that he 
is in error. There is no Canada medal ; but let the error stand. If Dr. 
Richardson has no such medal, he ought to have one. And it would be well 
to know why this great boon has been withheld from the Militia soldier of 
Canada. Medals have been granted for services on the Ganges, and Sutlej, in 
China and in KafBrland. A post-obit decoration has been tardily bestowed on 
the heroes of the Peninsula. Medals were given for Chateauguay, where there 
was some fighting, and for Detroit, where there was no fighting at all. Why is 
it that the men who fought and bled at Queenston Heights, on the Niagara and 
Detroit frontiers ; at Frenchtown and Fort Meigs ; at Schlosser and Black 
Rock ; at Ogdensburg ; at LacoUe mill ; on the St, Lawrence and the lakes.; 
should have been denied a guerdon, so highly prized, for services which 
cannot be ignored ? 



134 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

empty sleeve. To the enquiring stranger it would be replied, that 
the veteran who excited his interest Avas the Rev. Dr. Richardson, 
D.D., now Bishop of the Episcopal Methodist Church in Canada ; 
and, in his youth, a gallant officer of the Pravincial marine, w^ho, 
in 1814, had, in action with the enemy, lost an arm in the service 
of his country. 

This gentleman was the son of the brave Lieutenant Richardson, 
who, as before related, carried the Simcoe into Kingston harbour, 
in despite of the fire of the whole American squadron. Brought up 
from a boy in the navigation of the lakes, at the age of eighteen he 
followed his father's footsteps, and entered into the Provincial ser- 
vice. In 1812, being then twenty-one years of age, he received 
his commission as Lieutenant. At this time the Provincial Navy on 
Lake Ontario consisted of the ships Royal George, 20 guns ; the 
Moira, of 16 ; the schooner Duke of Gloucester, of 8, and the 
Netley schooner, of 12 guns ; with numerous small vessels, acting 
as gunboats and transports. The services of these vessels, in default 
of all other means of communication, were indispensable to the 
divisions of the army, both in the east and in the west of Upper 
Canada. 

The officers of the Provincial Marine received their commissions 
from the Commander-in-Chief in British North America, and the 
whole force was attached to the department of the Quarter-Master- 
General. On the arrival of the first detachment of the Royal Navy, 
these gentlemen were informed that their commissions could not be 
recognized by the rules of a service, which subseciucnt intcrcoiirse 
with Turks and Frenchmen, Sardinians and Russians, has rendered 
far more cosmopolite. With a veiy suggestive show of reticence, 
"the gi-eater part of these officers retired from the marine, and took 
service in the militia, where tliey were permitted to risk their Uvea 
without offence to their feelings. While we appreciate the sensitive- 
ness which shrank from an indignity, we admire the more the 



RELATIVE RANKING OP BRITISH AND CANADIAN OFFICERS. 135 

patriotism of those who cast aside every consideration which inter- 
fered with service to their country. Two of the number, Lieutenants 
George Smith and James Richardson, could not bring themselves 
to abandon their more natural element, and, to the great satisfaction 
of the Commodore, accepted rating as " masters," which gave them 
rank in the gun-room with the commissioned officers, and enabled 
them, as " masters and pilots," from their knowledge of their own 
inland seas, to render important services.* 

We may feel satisfied in Canada, however, that the reign of martinet 
punctilio has long since passed away, and that a Canadian officer of 
the Queen, should occasion ever require his services, will receive at 
the hands of the army and navy of England the same share of 
respect which is freely awarded, in military intercourse, to a German 
" Felt-wacht-meister," or to a Turkish " Bim Bashi." 

In the middle of May, Lieutenant Richardson had been des- 
patched by Captain Barclay — previous to his own departure for the 
western waters — to escort, in the gunboat " Black Snake," the rear 
detachment of Yeo's blue-jackets, under Capt. Mulcaster, up the St. 
Lawrence to Kingston. On their arrival, the men had been distri- 
buted on board of the ships of the squadron. Richardson himself 
was appointed to the Wolfe, and was thus present at head-quarters 
on occasion of the descent of the 27th May. 

The wind was fair, the weather favourable and propitious. About 
10 a. m., on the 27th May, the squadron approached Sackett's 
Harbour. No enemy appeared at the landing place, and no osten- 
sible show of resistance. All preparations were completed ; the 
men embarked in the boats ; the anchors ready to be dropped. The 
very spot indicated as the point of disembarkation had been reached, 
when, instead of proceedmg to land and taking the place, which 
might then undoubtedly have been effected almost without loss of 

* Mem. of Dr. James Richardson, D.D. 



136 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

life, the troops were ordered to re-embark, the ships hauled to their 
wind, withdrew from the coast, and the enterprise was apparently 
abandoned. 

The general amazement was controlled by the instincts of dis- 
cipline, and by the belief that the retreat was a ruse — part of some 
preconcerted plan ; and at this time an occurrence took place, 
which diverted attention, and caused some amusement. In the 
afternoon, as the Wolfe was working to windward, away from the 
landing place, and about six miles in the oflBng, a boat was discovered 
approaching with a white flag, from a low wooded point of land, 
which forms the entrance to a deep bay known as Henderson's 
Harbour. Commodore Yeo dispatched Lieut. Dobbs, in one of the 
ship's boats, to meet the stranger, and ascertain his business. After 
a brief interview, Dobbs proceeded on to the shore. The American 
boat continued its course, and discharged upon the deck of the 
flag-ship a gentleman, ostentatiously armed, with a belt bristling 
with weapons, who announced himself to be a captain of dragoons. 
He reported to the officer of the deck that he was in command of a 
detachment, which had, on an uncongenial element, been attacked 
by Indians, and liad " concluded" forthwith to surrender. A part 
of his men were in the boat alongside, and Dobbs had proceeded to 
the shore for the remainder. It appeared that a party of Chippewa 
Indians, the occupants of about three canoes, had attacked the bold 
dragoon as he crept along the shore, seeking to reinforce the gar- 
rison at Sackett's Harbour, and had been, in reaUty, repulsed. One of 
the savages, badly wounded, had been taken on board of the Wolfe 
some short time before ; but dread of the Indians had blinded the 
gallant officer to his own success, and, without further molestation, 
he had thrown himself upon the protection of the fleet. The 
reraiimder of his men were soon brought on board. At this time 
the commanders were at dinner. The officer was invited to the table, 
and, on being introduced, perceiving some twinklhigs of fun on the 



THE SQUADRON WITHDRAWS — GENERAL JACOB BROWN. 137 

faces of the juniors, remarked : " Gentlemen, I confess that my 
appearance is uncouth, but my heart is as square as any man's."* 

Whether the information given by this officer restored confidence, 
or that his deportment gave occasion for reflection, Sir George, in 
a few hours, made fresh dispositions. At midnight, in the dark — 
heavy rain had come on — at a distance of some miles from the 
landing, which they had all but gained some hours before, the men 
were put into the boats, and directed to the shore. Colonel Baines 
relates that the boats were assembled at 1 a. m., in compact and 
regular order, intending to eflect a landing before the enemy could 
line the woods with troops ; but the darkness of the night, ignorance 
of the coast, and a strong current had drifted the boats from their 
proper station. When day dawned they pulled for the proper point 
of disembarkation.* 

In the meantime the enemy had not been idle. On the first 
approach of the British flotilla, the scant garrison of Sackett's 
Harbour consisted of a few American regulars, a small force of 
Albany volunteers, and the local militia. They mustered two field- 
pieces, and a long 32-pounder, on a pivot, surmounting Fort 
Tompkins. Colonel Baccus, of the United States army, was in 
command of the place. The general commanding the district, 
Jacob Brown, a respectable farmer, resided at a distance of about 
twelve miles from the harbour. He was immediately notified, and 
proved to be a man not unequal to the emergency. He took instant 
measures, alarmed the country, summoned the militia, and roused 
a spirit of resistance, which was not diminished by the abrupt 
departure of the British fleet. By daybreak, on the following 
morning, all his arrangements had been made. 

The troops landed with Uttle opposition. They first encountered 



* Mem. of Dr. James Richardson, D.D. 

•Report of Colonel Baines, Adjutant-General, May 30, 1813. 



1S8 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

a body of militia, supported by a field-piece. This force was 
attacked and routed, their commander killed, and the field-piece 
captured. The advance, however, was enfiladed by the gun on 
Fort Tompkins, which inflicted loss ; but the landing having been 
made, the front was forthwith cleared of skirmishers ; and, divided 
into two detachments, under Colonel Young, of the King's, and 
Major Gordon, of the 100th, the troops, in excellent order and 
with perfect confidence, advanced to carry the place. 

The works at Sackett's Harbour then consisted of two stockaded 
barracks, with block-houses and defences constructed of logs and 
cedar pickets ; of Fort Tompkins, with its sohtary gun; Fort Pyke, 
and the dockyard defences, denuded of artillery, employed in the 
attack on Niagara. The American garrison, in addition to the 
force first enumerated, consisted now of a swarm of militia, hurriedly 
assembled from all quarters, Avho, over-exultant the night before, 
were not a little disconcerted by the changed aspect of afiairs in 
the morning. Little, had they thought — 

That upon night so sweet, such awful morn should rise. 

The British advance was an uninterrupted success. The militia, 
in despite of appeal, remonstrance and objurgation, took to flight. 
The American regulars were broken and destroyed. The brave 
Colonel Baccus, their commander, was killed. General Brown re- 
solutely, but hopelessly, struggled to retrieve the disaster. Dismay 
spread on every side. The officer in command of the dockyard set 
fire to the Pyke, a frigate on the stocks, two ships of war in the har- 
bour, and the naval store-house, filled with the spoils of York. The 
stockaded barracks had been fired by our troops. General BroAvn, 
without disparagement to his personal conduct, was prepared to 
capitulate. The rough farmer, fresh from the plough, had displayed 
qualities which brave men admire, and older soldiers may have 
envied. 



THE ARMY ORDERED TO RETIRE — RETURN TO KINGSTON. 139 

At this moment of undisputed triumph, came an order to retreat, 
issued by Sir George Provost himself. It is idle now to speculate 
on motives, to invent arguments, or discuss theories. The great 
fact is indisputable and irresistible. By all accounts, both British 
and American, the place was at our mercy, when, with the effect of 
a stunning and stupefying blow, the order to re-embark fell upon 
all hearts. The men sullenly and mechanically fell in, formed, and 
retired unmolested, from before a dispersed and demoralized foe. 
One of the brave colonels in command exclaimed, indignantly, in 
the hearing of Mr. Richardson, as he came up the ship's side : " If 
he would but give me my own regiment, I would yet land again, 
and have the place." 

The expedition returned to Kingston, overwhelmed with indignant 
mortification. Brave men and gallant officers had fallen ; life and 
reputation had been sacrificed — honour itself imperilled, in the 
very wantonness of irresolution. The story told requires no 
further comment.* 



* The personal courage of Sir George Provost in the field has always been 
extolled by those who were around his person, and who knew him best, and 
whom he inspired with strong afifection. Colonel Macdonald, an ofiBcer who 
had served with great distinction and who subsequently acquired still more 
on the Upper Lakes in 1814, writes thus, on this head, dated Kingston, 29th 
May, 1813. " Sir George landed with the troops, accompanied by Mr. Brenton 
and myself. His Excellency was in the thickest of the fire, and of course had 
some narrow escapes in an action, the musketry of which was heavier than 
anything I ever saw, except the 21st March in Egypt." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Return to Vincent at the Beaver Dam— Retires on Burlington Heighte—Coloncl Harvey— 
Stoney Creek— British retire from, and the Americans occupy their position — Harvey's 
plan for night attack — The Americans surprised — Desperate fighting— Americans dis- 
persed—Generals Chandler and Winder taken prisoners— Present aspect of the ground 
— Old Lutherian Chapel— Burial place of the slain— No memorial stone— Why not? 
Americans fall back on Niagara— Abandon camps and supplies. 

It is with a grateful sense of relief, that, following the natural 
course of events, we are now transported to the upper end of Lake 
Ontario- — to General Vincent and the retreating garrison of Nia- 
gara — there to record how one resolute, thoughtful man, may 
control fate and restore fortune. 

Vincent had withdrawn deliberately to the position of the Beaver 
Dam. Here his outlying detachments had joined him from the 
south. Bishopp, on evacuating Fort Erie, had blown up that work ; 
and now the General, with the same deliberation, fell back upon 
the strong position of Burlington Heights. 

Burlington Heights, situated about two miles to the west of the 
present city of Hamilton, was, in those days, a strong position. 
Modern artillery, however, has been very destructive to this sort 
of reputation. The area is too contracted to be of any value now. 
It is a peninsula, elevated about one hundred feet above the water 
of Burlington Bay on one side, and the extensive Desjardins marsh 
on the other. It was unassailable, except by the neck of the isth- 
mus, which was defended by field works. Here the general 
covered and maintained his communications, with York on his left 
rear, and with Proctor and the western division of his army on his 
right. 



GENERAL VINCENT — SIR JOHN HARVEY — STONEY CREEK. 141 

General Vincent had the merit of appreciating merit in others. 
He discovered talent, made use of it, and did it ample justice. 
His despatches do honour to his soldierly honesty. He had by his 

side a man of rare military quaUties — Lieut.-Colonel Harvey in 

after years. Sir John Harvey, K.C.B., a general officer, and 
governor of Nova Scotia. He was at this time Adjutant-General 
to the forces m the field on the Niagara frontier. He had con- 
ducted the retreat of the troops from Fort George with marked 
skill and energy, and had aided his chief in taking up his present 
strong position. The force, however, was weak in one important 
particular. The ammunition was reduced to about 90 rounds per 
man, without resource or means of supply. 

On the 5th June the American army, in pursuit, amounting to 
2500 men, including 250 cavalry and eight guns, under command 
of generals Chandler and Winder, had reached Forty Mile Creek, 
one of the numerous streamlets which descend from the plateau of 
Niagara into Lake Ontario, and which, in popular parlance, indi- 
cate rather than define the distances between Niagara and Hamil- 
ton. The British advanced posts at Stoney Creek fell back before 
them, and the enemy occupied for the night ground well known to 
the late defenders. Vincent despatched Harvey with a small force 
to reconnoitre their position and strength. There is a tradition in 
the neighbourhood that Harvey himself, having borrowed the garb 
and the waggon of a Quaker, penetrated into the American lines, 
seUing potatoes and " taking notes." Those who can recall the 
commanding stature and bearing of the gallant officer, maintain 
that this was the very last disguise in which he was likely to suc- 
ceed. It is not impossible that some patriotic " friend " really 
found a good market for his produce, and valuable information for 
Harvey, who rapidly matured his plans, and laid them before the 
general, who approved of them at once, and promptly resolved on a 
night attack. 



142 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

The force detailed for this, one of the most trying operations in 
warfare, consisted of five companies of the 8th, and the whole of 
the 40th regiment — numbering 754 firelocks — under the personal 
direction of the General, but led by Harvey, whose arrangements 
and conduct were admirable. The Americans slept in fancied 
security on the banks of Stoney Creek ; the guns were posted on 
high ground on the left flank and centre. The generals occupied a 
farm house on their left flank, known as the farm house of old Jemmy 
Gap. Further to the left still, the ground rose higher gradually, until, 
at the distance of about a quarter of a mile, it struck the precipitous 
hill-side of the plateau, which borders the whole road from Queens- 
ton to Hamilton. It was near midnight when the British array 
reached the American watch-fires. " Sir," whispered a young 
Canadian cadet of the 49th (now Judge JarVis, of Cornwall), " we 
are upon them."* " Hush !" replied Harvey, and, with a sign, sent 
forward a sergeant and a file of men. The first sentry, a careless 
watcher — perhaps sleeping — was despatched. A second found the 
same fate. The third fired ; and with his shot came a shout and a 
rush, and the British stood among the American camp-fires. Some 
bayonetting took place, as the sleepers awoke, stumbling ; but the 
surprised men were not dismayed. They rallied rapidly and well, 
and opened a destructive fire. Their guns, too, Avere unlimbcred 
and manned. As was the practice in those days, on such a venture, 
the flints had been removed from the firelocks ; and at this moment, 
standing out in strong rehef, with the camp-fires around and behind 
them, the men were ordered to replace flints. One who was there 
declares this to have been the most trying moment of his life. The 
process is a slow one, and many a fine fellow fell without replacing 
his flint at all. But the pluck and steadiness of the men defied the 
trial. By degrees they were able to return the fire, to advance, 



•Narrative of a "49th Man," given by Auchinleck, p. 175. 



DESPERATE CONTEST — AMERICAN GENERALS CAPTURED. 143 

and answer the flashes of the enemy's musketry. In the meantime 
Harvey had despatched two companies to his right. Stealthily 
they crept along the slope at the foot of the plateau, among the 
beech woods, enveloped the farm house, and came down, with 
cheers, on the enemy's left. Surprised and staggered, the Ameri- 
cans still behaved bravely. Forming in small detached bodies, appa- 
rently without concert or command, they fought on, until forced by 
the bayonet to disperse. Generals Winder and Chandler were taken 
in their quarters. They had made themselves comfortable for the 
night. With the two generals, the British captured three guns, one 
howitzer, and three tumbrils, and about 100 officers and men.* 
The contest, though short, had been very sanguinary. The Ameri- 
can loss in slain was large ; but the withdrawal of the British made 
it difficult to ascertain numbers. That of the British, in killed and 
wounded, amounted to 160 men. Curiously enough. General 
Vincent himself was lost, in the bush, during the night, and was 
only picked up by a sort of military " hue and cry," in the 
morning. The American generals were lost irretrievably. Their 
army came back in the morning to recover them ; but, finding that 
their antagonists had decamped with the " spolia opima," concluded 
to decamp too, and never drew rein, nor breath, until they found 
themselves safe within the works of Fort George. 

The scene of their exploits was, in the year 1813, but little 
removed from forest and farm land, in the first stages of cultivation. 
It is now a garden. It is pleasant on an early spring morning, 
to saunter over the field of this midnight conflict, inhaling the in- 
cense of the apple orchards and peach blossoms, listening to the 
last cry of the whip-poor-will, retiring to its day dreams, and paus- 
ing to note each spot of interest, which the rustic cicerone may 
point out to stranger's eye. There, is still seen the old German 
or Lutheran place of worship, brown with age, and deserted now, 

• Vincent's Despatch, June, iai3. 



144 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 



bearing on its wind-worn timbers, the bullet holes of the contest ; 
and in an angle of the primitive fence, hard bj, may be discovered, 
amid tall weeds and overhanging ottacas, a pile of stones, a hasty, 
huddled cairn, — all that exists to mark the spot where rest the 
remains of the brave men who perished in that midnight fray. 
There they lie, heaped together, friend and foe, 

— in one red burial blent. 
Surely this is a reproach to the land ! Can neither men nor means 
be found to erect a simple monument to memories w^iich belong to 
" les braves de toutes les nations,''* before the frail land-marks 
of the spot itself have passed away for ever ? Can not the great 
omission be amended yet ? Twenty dollars,— to reduce the propo- 
sition to its most practical bearing,— would suffice to supply a 
simple stone, in the style of the memorial placed to indicate where 
Brock fell. The date, and a brief recommendation to the pious 
care of the people of the surrounding country, would secure its 
maintenance and protection. Such a stone should mark every 
battle field in Canada ; and all might bear the same truthful and 
noble motto : 

Siste viator, hercem calcas. 

On the withdrawal of the British troops the battle field at Stoney 
Creek was, as before said, for a short space, re-occupied by the 
Americans under Colonel Burns, a cavalry officer, upon whom the 
command had devolved. He merely remained long enough to 
destroy the tents which had been left standing, and to burn a 
quantity of stores. He then rapidly retired to the protection of the 

• In a quiet corner of the churchyard at Gemappes, in the shade of a 
ino3s-grown buttress, is the simple tomb of General Duhesme, slain in the 
village, at the door of the " Three Kings," by a Black Brunswick trooper, on the 
evening of Waterloo. His widow and orphans record that they have erected 
this monument to the memory of a brave soldier and a good man, and leave it 
to the safeguard " des braves de toutes les nations." The hand would wither 
which could desecrate that stone. 



AMEKICAN RETREAT AND LOSSES. 145 

lines of Fort George, though in executing this manoeuvre he was 
intercepted, and suffered much. On their advance the Americans 
had been accompanied, along the lake shore, by a flotilla of boats, 
and batteaux. Burns fell back upon this support, and embarked 
his wounded, and such of his men as had not yet got under cover, 
and was slowly creeping down the coast to the place from whence he 
came, — when, on the 8th June, Sir James Yeo, who, by this time 
had become master of his own movements and had got out of 
Kingston, appeared in the offing ; intelligence from the shore had 
apprized him of the state of things, and of the position of the 
enemy ; and Richardson* dwells with sailorly impatience on the 
perversity of a calm which anchored every vessel of the squadron, 

As idle as a painted sliip, 
Upon a painted ocean. 

At length a breeze sprung up, and the squadron closed in with the 
shore, cutting off the twelve rearmost boats of the American 
flotilla, laden with valuable supplies and stores. Perceiving an 
encampment in the woods on the beach, the Commodore disembarked 
in the ships' boats two companies of regulars under Major Evans 
of the 8th Regiment. This active officer landed, and in the even- 
ing having been reinforced by two companies from Burlington 
Heights, under Colonel Bishopp, the second deserted American 
encampment was entered. It was in a state of conflagration at the 
time, but the captors saved from the flames 500 tents, 140 barrels 
of flour, 100 stand of arms, ammunition and other articles of a 
very acceptable character. Thus did this very gallant exploit of 
Harvey free the whole Peninsula from the invader, and threw them 
back upon the mere edge of the frontier, with a deep and dan- 
gerous river in their rear, between them and their supports and 
supplies. 

* Mem. of Dr. James Richardson, D.D^. 
K 



CHAPTER XIV. 

New American Enterprise. Attempt on the Beaver Dam Post. JNoble devotion of Mrs. 
Sccord. Her Adventures— Reaches Decau's house in safety. Fitzgibbon. Boerstler's 
Advance— Attacked by the Indians— Reaches Thorold. Present ftsjwct of Tliorold. 
Welland Canal. Hamilton Merritt. Col. John Clarke. Old Isaac Kelly— Militia attack 
on Bcerstler— He surrenders to Fitzgibbon. Mary Secord the real Heroine. Princely 
generosity of the Prince of Wales. Lieut. Fitzgibbon— His career— A Miiitaiy Knight 
of Windsor. History of the Knights. A Reverie. 

Nor was this all. One bold and successful feat of arais infused 
morale.) and inspired another. On the retreat of the American 
force, Vincent had been followed up, and established his outposts 
at his old position, the Beaver Dam. Decau's house was occupied 
as a depot for stores. It was guarded by a small detachment of 
the 49th, about 30 men, under Lieut. Fitzgibbon. Fitzgibbon was 
one of the paladins of the war, a man of nerve and enterprise, of 
much vigour of character and great personal strength. An incident 
characteristic of the man had occurred oh the spot. On tukin^^ up 
his ground at the Beaver Dam, he had driven out the American 
pickets. Attempting to intercept them he encountered alone at 
the back door of Decau's house two of the enemy, each armed with 
a musket and bayonet. Both charged upon him. Fitz"il)bon 
grasped the musket of the more advanced man, and by main 
strength threw him upon his fellow, whose musket he also grappled 
with the other hand, and although both struggled desperately, he 
as resolutely held on, until his men came to his aid, and his antago- 
nists surrendered. 

Such was the man to whom on the night of the 23rd June there 



ECERSTLEr's attack — MRS. MARY SECORD. 147 

came a warning insjjired by woman's wit, and conveyed with more 
than female energy. The commandant of Niagara, chagrined by 
reverses, and anxious to reassure his own people, resolved to beat 
up the British quarters, to attack Decau's house, and destroy the 
depot of stores. The surprise of this outpost would have led to 
further surprises ; and to an officer, inspired with half the enter- 
prise of Harvey, would have opened the way to Burlington Hei"-hts. 
The outpost was within striking distance, and exposed. The 
adventure was promising. He ordered, therefore, Lieut.-Colonel 
Boerstler of the United States Army to prepare for this service, 
rapidly and secretly. He was in command of the 14th United 
States Infantry, one 12 and one 6-pounder field guns, with am- 
munition waggons, &c.— a few cavab-y and volunteers— amounting 
altogether to 673 men. 

In despite of all precautions, rumours of the intended expedition 
eked out, and reached the ear of James Secord, a British militia 
soldier, who resided at Queenston, then within the American lines. 
He had been badly wounded the preceding autumn at Queenston 
Heights, and was a cripple. He hobbled home to his wife with 
the news. The pair were in consternation ; they were loyal Cana- 
dians — their hearts were in the cause. If the design succeeded ; if 
Fitzgibbon was surprised; de Haren in the rear would follow. 
Burhngton Heights might be carried, and their country would be lost. 
Mrs. Mary Secord, the wife, at the ag^'bf 88, still Hves in the village 
of Chippewa, to tell the story, and wakes up into young life as 
she does so. "What was to be done. Fitzgibbon must be warned. 
The husband in his crippled state could not move, and moreover no 
man could pass the line of American sentries. She spoke out, she 
would go herself, would he let her ? she could get past the sentries ; 
she knew the way to St. David's, and there she could get guidance. 
She would go, and put her trust in God. He consented. At three 
in the morning she was up, got ready the children's breakfast, and 



148 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

taking a cracker and cup of coffee, started after day break. To have 
left earlier would have aroused suspicion. Her first difiiculty was the 
American advanced sentry. He was hard to deal with, but she pointed 
to her own farm buildings a Uttle in advance of his post, insisted 
that she was going for milk ; told him he could watch her, and waa 
allowed to pass on. She did milk a cow, which was very contrary, 
and would persist in moving onwards to the edge of the opposite 
bushes, into which both she and the cow disappeared. Once out of 
sight, she pushed on rapidly. She knew the way for miles, but 
fear rose within her, in despite of herself, and what " scared " her 
most was the distant cry of the wolf, — they were abundant in those 
days ; and twice she encountered a rattlesnake, — they are not un- 
frequent even now. She did not care much for them, as she knew 
they would run from a stick or a stone, and they did not wait for 
any such exorcism. At length she reached a brook. It was very 
hot, and the water refreshed her, but she had some difficulty in 
crossing. At last she found a log, and shortly after got to the 
mill. The miller's wife was an old friend, and tried to dissuade 
her from going on. Spoke of the danger, spoke of her children ; 
the last was a sore trial, for she was weary and thoughtful, but 
the thing had to be done, so she was resolute, and having rested 
and refreshed, proceeded on. Her next trouble was the British 
outlying sentry, but she soon re-assured him and he sent her on, 
with a kind word, warning her to beware of the Indians. This 
" scared " her again, but she was scared still more, when the crack- 
ing of the dead branches under her footsteps roused from their 
cover a party of red skins. The chief, who first sprang to his feet, 
confronted her, and demanded, " Woman ! what you want ?" the 
others yelled " awful." The chief silenced them with his hand. She 
told him, at once, that she wanted to see Fitzgibbon, and why. 
" Ah," said the Indian, " me go with you," and with a few words 
to his people, who remained, he accompanied ber to Fitzgibbon's 



AMERICAN ADVANCE — INTERCEPTED BY INDIANS — THOROLD. 149 

quarters, which she reached about nine on the evening of the 23rd. 
A few words sufficed to satisfy him. He sent off, forthwith, to his 
Major de Haren, in the rear and made his own preparations. She 
found friends in a farm house near, for in those days every body 
knew every body. She slept " right off," for she had journeyed on 
foot twenty miles, and safely, God be praised. 

In the meantime the American expedition had silently assembled 
at Fort George, and within a few hours rapidly followed on her 
footsteps. At twelve of a fine night in June, they had taken up 
their line of march on St. David's, and at daybreak came upon 
Kerr and his Indians, already on their guard, and keenly expec- 
tant. They numbered about thirty warriors, Mohawks, chiefly of 
the Grand River ; but Kerr saw, at a glance, the insufficiency of 
Ms force to resist, and had recourse to Indian tactics, to retard 
and harass the enemy and to spread alarm to remote posts. He 
threw himself therefore, at once, on the rear and flank of the 
Americans, and opened a desultory fire. 

The Americans, throwing out sharpshooters in reply, still pressed 
forwards, but the Indians were neither to be repulsed nor shaken off. 
The track through the forest was narrow and broken. The guns 
and store waggons defiled slowly to the front. The yells and the 
rifles of the savages rang in the rear. A horror of the war-whoop 
hung then on the national conscience, and sensational stories, for 
the most part, had the usual effect of such stimulants on nerve 
and brain. 

Boerstler and his men had emerged from the forest into an open 
space, a clearing close by the present village of Thorold. Their 
guns, waggons, and other encumbrances, had reached a hoUow in 
the road, overhung by a bank clad with beeches. This hollow 
forms now a basin of the Welland Canal. The spot, which then 
rang with the outcries of the combatants, now resounds with the 
hum of industry, and the working chaunt of the sailor. 



150 CHRONICLE OF THE WAK. 

Froni this point of view, at the present day, to the right and 
left, may be seen for miles — at the same season of the year — an 
uninterrupted Une of hxke craft — ships and brigs, brigantines and 
schooners, steamers and propellers — Ijearing testimony to the genius 
and perseverance of another of the men of 1812, who within the 
last few months has gone to his rest. Hamilton JMerritt, U. E. L., 
commanded m his youth a corps of cavalry, distinguished in every 
fray on the Niagara frontier. In mature years he designed the 
Welland Canal, which unites Lake Erie with Lake Ontario. By 
dint of resolution he surmounted the prejudices and the difficulties 
which surrounded the undertaking; died at a good old age, full 
of such honour as Canada can confer ; and will live in the gratitude 
of future generations. 

Si raonumentum rcquiris, circumspice I 

It is a curious commentary on the proverbial versatility of the 
popular breeze, that the promoters and advocates of the Welland 
Canal were punished by their constituents for the part they took in 
advancing this great design, and at the next election lost their 
seats in parliament. Colonel John Clarke, of St. Catherines, one 
of those to whom this record owes much, relates with pride that 
he was honoured by this penalty. A few years — the progress 
of the enterprise, and the surprising increase of prosperity to 
which it gave rise, brought about the usual reaction, and the 
distinguished member was restored to his scat l)y triumphant accla- 
mation.* 

In the hollow, below the beech ridge, where the war-whoop of 
the Indian has now given place to the shriek of the steam-whistle, 



• Colonel Jolin Clarke wag one of the early pioneers of the Niagara District. 
He died in 1862 at St. Catherines, C. W., at an advanced age. Uis sur\'1viug 
daughter is the wife of William McGiverin, Esq., M.P.P. 



OLD ISAAC KELLY — AMERICANS AT BAY — SURRENDER. 151 

Boerstler found a fresh foe. From the wood above, on the hill-side, 
came the ring of the militia musket ; and the echoes of the forest 
multiplied the reports and the fears they created. 

Old Isaac Kelly, born and raised on 48 Thorold, a septuagen- 
arian, hale and hearty, who still lives not a mile from the spot, 
tells how, when he was a boy of 18, ^nd was in the act of " hitching 
up" his horses for the plough, he heard the firing in the wood, and 
the outcries of the Indians ; how he ran to his two brothers, both 
a-field ; how the three got their muskets — they were a'.l militia- 
men — home, to put in a crop ; how, led by the sounds, they crossed 
the country to the beech grove, meeting eight or ten more by the 
way, suddenly roused, like themselves ; how, from behind the trees, 
they opened fire on the American train, and on the guns, which 
were then unlimbering, to the rear ; and how the Americans, more 
worried and bothered than hurt, changed their position, and took 
up ground in David Millar's apple orchard. 

In the meantime, Fitzgibbon had taken rapid measures. Major 
de Haren, of his regiment, was at some distance in the rear, with 
three companies, cantoned near where St. Catherines now stands. 
An estafette, borne by James Cummings of Chippewa, one of the 
still surviving veterans of that day, had put this force in motion. 
Fitzgibbon himself was under arms, and on the way, attracted by 
the firing. 

Suddenly he came upon the head of the enemy's column, and 
found all confusion. The men were scared out of their senses. 
The officer in command had lost his head. Fitzgibbon made the 
most imposing display possible of his 30 men ; and advanced at 
once with a white handkerchief. He found Boerstler ready for a 
parley. Fitzgibbon stated who he was — his rank ; that he com- 
manded a detachment of British troops ; that his commandmg 
officer, de Haren, with a large reinforcement, was close by ; and 
by a judicious disposition of his men, and some passing allusion to 



152 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

his scarecrow Indians — like Robinson Crusoe, when he out- 
manoeuvred the mutineers — he magnified his numbers in the 
imagination of his foe. 

Boerstler was in a " fix." The Indians yelled horridly ; the 
militia-men fired without compunction ; the red coats in front 
barred the way ; a large reinforcement was in their rear — he was, 
in fact, surrounded and like wild beasts driven into an African 
corral ; he and his men were bewildered by sounds and sights of 
fear. He took but short time to deliberate. He surrendered at 
once — himself and his whole force. 

The surrender was embarrassing. Fitzgibbon was, in fact, nearly 
caught by his own captives. He did not dare show his weakness. 
He knew not the number of the Indians ; but he did know that the 
militia force was scant indeed. " Why, sir," says Isaac Kelly, 
" when he gave in, we did not know what to do with him : it was 
like catching the elephant." 

Fitzgibbon had presence of mind equal to the emergency. The 
American officers were called together, and a capitulation framed 
and penned. In the meantime de Haren hastened on, and scarcely 
was the capitulation signed, when he came up with 200 bayonets 
at his back. 

The American force, which surrendered, consisted of 542 men, 
two field guns and ammunition waggons, and the colours of the 
14th United States regiment. 

The heroine of this achievement, under Providence, was Mary 
Secord, whose name is inseparable from the story.* When the 



• " I do hereby certify that Mrs. Secord, the wife of James Secord of 
Chippewa, Esquire, did, in the month of June, 1813, walk from her house in 
the village of St. David's to Decau's house, in Thorold, by a circuitous route 
of about 20 miles, partly through the woods, to acquaint me that the enemy 
intended to attempt, by surprise, to capture a detachment of the 49th Regt, 
then under my command, she having obtained such knowledge from good 



KINDNESS OF THE PRINCE OF WALES — FITZGIBBON. 153 

Prince of Wales was at Niagara, he saw the old lady, and from 
her own hps heard the tale ; and learning, subsequently, that her 
fortune did not equal her fame, he sent her, most delicately and 
most gracefully, the sum of one hundred guineas. God bless him 
for that, is the aspiration of every honest Canadian heart. He is 
his mother's own son. 

The chief actor, on this 24th day of June, 1813, Colonel James 
Fitzgibbon, still lives at the advanced age of eighty-three ; and 
demands some further notice. 

He was the son of a farmer — had the advantage of a little early 
education, and acquired a fondness for reading. His passion for 
arms was irresistible. At seventeen years of age he enlisted ; and 
the same day, 25th Oct. 1798, was made a sergeant. At the age 
of twenty-one he was appointed Sergeant-Major.* He served in 
Ireland, and before Copenhagen, where the 49th acted as marines. 
He was appointed to an ensigncy and adjutantcy, and came to 
Canada. In 1809 he succeeded to a lieutenancy ; and resigned 
the adjutancy to command a small detachment in the field. His 
exploits at the Beaver Dam gave him his company. He thus rose 
by dint of meritorious service, at a time when commissions and 



authority, as the event proved. Mrs. Secord was a person of slight and delicate 
frame, and made the effort in weather excessively warm ; and I dreaded, at the 
time, that she must suffer in health in consequence of fatigue and anxiety, she 
having been exposed to danger from the enemy, through whose line of commu- 
nication she had to pass. The attempt was made on my detachment by the 
enemy; and his detachment, consisting of upwards of 500 men, and a field- 
piece, and 50 dragoons, were captured in consequence. I write this certificate 
iu a moment of much hurry and from memory, and it is therefore thus brief. 

(Signed,) James Fitzgibbon, 

Formerly Lieut. 49th Regt." 

Given by Auchinleck, p. I'ZS, but Mrs. Secord possesses the original, Dec. 1863. 
• Morgan's Celebrated Canadians, p. 193. 



154 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

promotion were not so freely given to deserving men as they are 
now. He was noted for bis soldierly aspect, for shrewd wit, and 
for pluck which would take no denial. On this, and on all other 
occasions, during the war, Fitzgibbon made his mark. He was 
once authorized to raise an independent company — a corps of 
enfans jjerdiis — fighting being looked upon as his especial privilege. 
It was to be composed from the line regulars. All volunteered ; 
and the embarras du choix was the difficulty of the organization.* 

At the close of the war he settled in Canada ; and filled many 
offices of honour and emolument, under the government. His last 
appointment was that of Clerk to .the Legislative Council. He 
retired on a pension, and returned to his native land, where, in 
just appreciation of his services, he was made a Military Knight of 
Windsor. The career of Fitzgibbon is the counterpart of number- 
less others in Canada. Soldiers, from the ranks, stud and embellish, 
and enrich the soil ; their sons are the most honoured m the land ; 
the exertions of the fathers have become the inheritance of the 
children ; and their success is an example of what the honest, 
earnest British soldier, true to himself and his Queen, may achieve, 
and add, thereby, to the long list of useful citizens and good men 
who have " risen from the ranks " of their incomparable service.f 

It may be pleasing to his surviving contemporaries — it may be 
profitable to Canadians generally — to know something of the haven 
the old soldier came to. It is natural that men in these remote 
regions should be curious about the " Military Knights of 
Windsor." The empiiry is often made. This institution is as old 



• A " Green 'Ua " (presumed to be Judge Jarvis), given by Auchinlech, p. 1 78. 

t Since the above was written, our old friend has gone to bis rest. An 
English paper briefly announces "on the 12lh Dec. 1863, at his residence in the 
Lower Ward, Windsor Castle, at the advanced age of 83 years, Colonel James 
Fitzgibbon." 



MILITARY KNIGHTS OF WINDSOR — THEIR INSTITUTION. 155 

as that of the Knights of the Garter — indeed it is one year older — 
for it was founded by King Edward the Third, in the twenty- 
second year of his reign. The Order of the Garter was created 
in the next year, A.D. 1349 ; and was inaugurated on St. George's 
day, 23rd April, at Windsor Castle, as declared by the Black 
Book, br Statutes of the Order, " for the reward of virtue and the 
improvement of military valour."* The same chivalrous spirit 
inspired the inferior order of the Military Knights. In the days 
when a complete lance consisted of the panoplied knight and his 
five men-at-arms ; in the days of esquires and bas cJievaliers, (now 
dumped into " bachelor,") endowments were made by monarchs and 
mighty men for the support of retainers, whose age, whose services? 
and whose wounds demanded that provision which their own means 
could not supply. Such are British institutions. " Date oholwm 
Belisario,''' was the doctrine of the mongrel descendants of repub- 
lican Rome. The Order of the Military Knights of Windsor was 
instituted in 1348, by our Edward the Third, for the support of 
twenty-four worn soldiers, " who had distinguished themselves in 
the wars, and had afterwards been reduced to straits." On death, 
or vacancy, the appointments are suppUed by the crown. The 
mailed warrior has been succeeded by the veteran of modern days. 
In unchangeable England, the change is only one of costume. 
Each member enjoys a small annual stipend, and the advantage of 
a residence in the Towers of the Lower Ward, and in the connecting 
cui-tains, which, in modern parlance, might be called casemates. 
These residences are peculiarly suited to old soldiers with small 
means. The only service required, is the attendance of a certain 
number daily, at the religious offices in St. George's Chapel? ' 
where they occupy stalls at the feet of the Knights of the Garter, 
wearing long, dark blue cloaks, with a scarlet collar, and a Maltese 



* Windsor and Eton, by Edw. Jesse, 1841, p. 44. 



156 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

cross, of like colour, on the left shoulder. Here, amid the sights 
and sounds of modern warfare (for the Guards of the Sovereign 
parade daily before their windows) ; surrounded by all the associa- 
tions of feudal grandeur, with the corbeills and machicolations of 
the Norman Conqueror above them ; under shadow of that massive 
keep — the old Round Tower — from whence floats daily the royal 
standard of England ; with the quaint carvings and florid tracery 
of St. George's Chapel before their eyes, exists still a noble insti- 
tution of olden days, well worthy of the imitation of younger 
countries, more abundant in resources apphcable to such endow- 
ments. 

And lo, at the moment, as if before the wand of an enchanter, 
rises, by slow degrees, struggling with the mists of memory, a 
vision of the past. Forty years and more a-gone, when life was 
young and fresh as morn, 

the dewy morn, 



With breath all incense and with cheek all bloom, 

we can well recall now the figure of an aged man, who daily led 
by one who loted him well, took his seat in a sunny nook of the 
wall, hard by the Winchester Tower, on that noble terrace which 
commands the finest view in all England. Alas ! to him, the winding 
river, and the Brocas clump, and the spire of Clewer ; or nearer 
still, the busy town, and the bridge, and the angler on the end of 
the " Cobler," tussling with some reluctant barbel ; or the shadowy 
Slopes below him, or the antlcrcd deer beyond ; or further still. 

Those distant spires, those antique towers. 
Which crown the watery glade, 

Eton in all its monastic pride — was but as a sealed book, a picture 
turned to the wall. For, at the storming of Fort Erie, some wild 
Indian fortress, away in the back woods of Canada, years before, he 
had lost his precious sight, blasted by an exploding magazine, — 



A REVERIE. 157 

here, in the glad sunshine, day after day, did the old soldier love 
to sit and tell of savage sights, and scenes of fiery fight " 'mid 
antres vast and deserts idle," while we boys — we were two then — 
listened with gaping delight to the fine veteran, who " raising 
his sightless baUs to heaven," poured forth the gratitude of his 
heart to his God and to his king, gathering from the fulness of 
that gratitude, light and gladness, when aU else was dark around 
him. 

Ah 1 happy hills ! ah ! pleasing shades I 

Ah! fields beloved in vain! 
Where once my careless childhood strayed, 

A stranger yet to pain. 

« * « * • 

Some bold adventurers disdain 
The limits of their little reign, 
And unknown regions dare descry. 
Still, as they run they look behind ; 
They hear a voice in every wind. 

Vale, 



CHAPTER XV. 

Getieral de liottenburg succeeds General Vincent— Dearborn retires— Boyd in command at 
Fort George — ^American Frontier exposed to attack — Colonels Bishopp and Clark- 
Clark's career— Hazardous and successful foray on Fort Schlosser — Bishopp, emulous 
of gallant deeds, attacks Black Rock— Black Kock, now and then— Bishopp lands-^ 
Defeats the enemy — Captures the place— General Porter rallies the Americans— The 
British attacked in turn — Bishopp wounded to death — His worthy career iu Europe and 
Canada— Influence over the Volunteers— The Americans enlist the Indians— Lake 
Ontario — Commodore Chauncey attacks Burlington Heights — Fails — Again sacks York. 
Sir James Yeo provokes the Commodore out of Niagara — Two American schooners 
foundered— Two taken — More expected from Yeo very inconsiderately- Yeo did his 
duty thoughtfully and well — From Ontario to Lake Champlain— Escapade at Gore 
Creek on the St. Lawrence — Death of Capt. Milne— Supplies how furnished — How trans- 
ported in winter and summer— Value of the Commissariat— Sir William Kobinson— 
Commissaries in Canada— Isaac Winslow Clarke-^His career — Bateaux Brigades. 

Shortly after the affair of the Beaver Dam, and early in July, 
Major General de Rottenburg succeeded Major General Sheaffe as 
Lieut.-Governor of the Upper Province ; and as such took the 
command of the troops from the hands of Major General Vincent. 
About the same time General Dearborn, harassed in mind and 
body, withdrew from the command of the American army ; and 
the defence of Fort George and Fort Niagara, and of so much 
Canadian ground as tlie American soldier stood on, devolved on 
General Boyd.* 

An American army of 4000 men was in fact cooped up within 
the lines of Fort George, on the British side of the river, constantly 
on the qui vlve, a mass of dissatisfied, harassed men, dillicult and 



• James, Vol. I, p. 210. 



BISHOPP AND CLARK. 159 

costly to feed and supply, and cut off from their own shores by 
the River Niagara. As has been before said, they held but a 
selvage of the coast, and were unsafe beyond their advanced sentries ; 
the upper portion of the frontier, on the river, was occupied by 
the British, and the impolitic concentration of troops below, denuded 
the coast above, and invited incursion. From the Falls of Niagara 
up to the village of Buffalo, the, then, line of defence was open to 
attack by small parties, who could select their point of landing, and 
who were handled by enterprising officers. Chance had thrown 
together on the frontier two such men, congenial spirits, Lieut.- 
Colonel Bishopp, of the British Army, and Lieut.-Colonel Thomas 
Clark, of the 2nd Lincoln mihtia. Clark, a Scotchman by birth, 
was an Indian trader, and forwarder of goods to the western hunt- 
ing grounds, a member of the firm of Street & Clark. The 
Indian trader is a soldier half made. The conductor of a brigade 
of boats into the Indian territory must be able to command men. 
In lawless and remote regions that command is only yielded to 
personal character. Like the baron of feudal days, the leader to 
be obeyed, must possess strength, must display process, must show 
that he has nerve as well as brain ; and yet the highest qualities of 
brain are taxed to counteract rival traders, and defeat the deadly 
wiles of the capricious savage. Promptitude, watchfulness, patience, 
of cold, fatigue and hunger, foresight and forethought — quali- 
ties essential to the success of an Indian trader — constitute an 
amalgam which moulds the soldier. From the first outbreak of 
the war, Clark was foremost in frontier fray. He had acquired the 
confidence of his men, and obtained the cordial co-operation of 
those who, like Bishopp, understood volunteers, and could appreciate 
the merit of the extemporaneous soldier. On the night of the 4th 
July, while the Americans were celebrating the anniversary of their 
independence, Clark, who had noted their weakness or their improvi- 
dence, collected about 40 of his mihtia, and crossed the river from 



160 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

Chippewa to Fort Schlosser, celebrated in after years as the scene of 
the capture of the Carohne steamer. To the fate which befel her, 
these brave men were exposed, for an accident, an unlucky shot, or a 
disabled oar, might have doomed boat and crew to the boiling rapids 
and the unsparing cataract. They landed, however, unobserved, 
surprised the work, called a fort, and captured the guard there 
stationed. They secured several stand of arms, a quantity of ammu- 
nition, one brass 6-pounder, and a large store of provisions, and 
with this booty and fifteen prisoners returned in safety to the 
Canadian side. James Cummings, of Chippewa, also engaged in 
the Indian trade at that time, accompanied the expedition. It 
is pleasant to receive from the lips of one who took part in these 
occurrences, and who at 73 enjoys all the vigour of middle age, a 
relation of the exciting incidents, and hair-breadth escapes, over 
which horror and wild glee cast a strange and ghastly glamour, 
when men laughed and cried in the same breath, and forgot in 
the passing struggle with boiling eddy or desperate foe, both the 
past and the future. It is necessary to hear these recitals before 
we can realize, or indeed understand, the imminence and extent of 
these dangers, or the indifference with which, when past, they were 
regarded. But Bishopp fired up when he heard of the exploit. 
" Hang the fellow, he has got before me. By Jove, it was well 
done — we'll try it again ;" and he did try it again. 

At 2 a.m., on the morning of the 11th July, accompanied by 
Clark, and by Cummings the narrator, and backed by about 240 
men, 200 regulars and 40 of the 2nd and 3rd Lincoln, Bishopp 
swooped down upon Black Rock, the American naval depot on the 
River Niagara. 

Black Rock is now a large manufacturing village about three miles 
below Buffalo, at the embouchure of the Erie Canal. The furnace 
and the forge and the fitful flashes, and the roar of uninterrupted 
industry, have succeeded to monotonous earthworks, to the shout of 



RAID ON BLACK ROCK — GENERAL PORTER. 161 

battle and the red artillery. The great breakwater, which now 
divides the still canal from the seething river, did not then exists 
The river was wider, the shore more open than it is now, and the 
silence of the summer night was scarcely broken by the muffled oar. 
The party had embarked a little l)elow the present village of Waterloo, 
and, overshooting their mark, reached the shore below Black Rock. 
Bishopp landed at once, almost without a sound, and dashed into the 
encampment of the American Major, Adams, dispersed about 300 
militia, and captured threfe heavy guns. These were turned instantly 
on the Block-house, which, with its garrison of regular artillerymen, 
gave in incontinently. General Porter, who commanded on the fron- 
tier, lived hard by. He escaped out of a window, took to horse, 
and rode to Buffalo. Bishopp and his friends repaired to his house, 
courteously asked for 1^-eakfast, and were hospitably entertained. 
In the mean time the work of destruction went on. The Block- 
house, and the barracks, and the naval arsenal, and a fine schooner, 
were destroyed by fire. All the public stores which could be 
removed, were transferred to the boats, and some conveyed across 
the river ; but private property was scrupulously respected. The 
Buffalo G-azette of July 13, says " while the main body was thus 
employed in disposing of the public property, a party entered 
the houses in the village, but we have not ascertained that they 
committed any outrages on private property."* 

While the British were thus employed, General Porter had made 
the best use of his time. He had roused the people of Buffalo, 
and brought down strong reinforcements of regulars, militia and 
Indians. Time had crept on, and Cummings, who knew the people 
best, and felt much as if on a hornet's nest, remonstrated with 
Bishopp, but the gay and gallant fellow laughed, and " poked fun 
at him." He had come to destroy those stores and guns, and 



• James, Vol. I, page 229. 
L 



162 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. ^ 

meant to do it. Now, anchors and chain cables, and heavy iron 
guns, were not toys to be lightly handled nor easily destroyed. The 
most that could be done was, to sink them in the Niagara, from 
whence they could be fished up with no great trouble. At length 
the woi-k was completed, the men re-embarked unmolested, and 
Bishopp was the last to retire. Scarcely had they left the bank 
when the Indians, who, snake-like, had crawled to the top, com" 
menced to fire. Part of the men were disembarked, and drove the 
enemy back into the woods and upon their supports, while they in 
turn, uniting, forced the small detachment back to their boats. 
Bishopp was everywhere, commanding, directing, getting his men 
ofi". In the confusion of the moment, some of the oars of his own 
boat were lost, and she drifted, helplessly, down the stream, exposed 
to an increasing fire. " Here the gallaat Bishopp, the darling of 
the army, received his death Avound. Never Avas any officer, save 
always the lamented Brock, regretted more than he was."* He 
was borne back to his quarters, where in a few days, he expired at 
the early age of 27. His remains he beneath a modest monument 
erected to his memory by the pious care of his sisters, the Baroness 
de la Zouche and Mrs. Pechell, in the tjhurchyard at Lundy's Lane. 

Colonel Cecil Bishopp was a son of Sir Cecil Bishopp, Bart., 
afterward Lord de la Zouche. He was an accomplished gentleman. 
He had served in the Guards. Had represented Newport in the 
Isle of Wight in Parliament. Had been attached to a Russian 
embassy. Had served with distinction in Flanders, in Spain and in 
Portugal, and died full of hope and promise in Canada, gallantly 
" doin" his duty " and not without avail, for his example lives. 

Bishopp had been appointed Inspecting Field officer of militia 
on the Niagara frontier. He won all hearts. He was possessed 



• Letter of a "Green 'Un " (Judge Jiirvis, Cornwall), givi n by Auchinleck^ 
I). 178. 



COLONEL CECIL BISHOPP — GENERAL WETHERALL. 163 

of that indescribable fascination of manner and character which, 
apparently withoub an effort, acts like a charm. It was a gift' 
His influence over the militia was supreme. He knew that he was 
not dealing with raw recruits, with mere children, who have to be 
taught and treated like children, but with men, for the most part 
of a certain age, reasoning and reasonable men, who are wiUing, 
naj eager, to learn anjthbg conducive to the defence of all thej 
hold dear, and who accept the restraints of disciphne as indis- 
pensable to that end. With an instant and intuitive perception of 
what was due to himself and to them,— without departing from his 
own dignity, he won their affection, commanded their respect and 
" could do with them just as he pleased." Those who can remem- 
ber the present Sir George Wetherall, when in command of the 
volunteers in Montreal, some twentj-five years ago, will recall a 
reproduction of the same character. With such an officer at their 
head, the militia of Canada, on their own soil, are equal to any 
troops this continent can produce, and are content that they 
should take the odds of their great name and estimation, and will 
try fortune with them. The following epitaph is inscribed on a 
tablet erected to the memory of Colonel Bishopp, at the family 
burial place, Parham, Sussex, and ascribed to Sir James Mac- 
donald ; 

His pillow — not of sturdy oak ; 

His shroud— a soldier's simple cloak ; 

His dirge — will sound till time's no more — 

Niagara's loud and solemn roar. 

There Cecil lies — say, where the grave 

More worthy of a Briton brave.* 

These incursions on the part of the British had, as we have just 



* The incidents in the early career of Colonel Bishopp, and the epitaph 
have been borrowed from Morgan's Canadian Celebrities, p. 225. For the resi- 
due, I am indebted to those who knew him, and who still live near where he died. 



164 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

observed, led the Americans to have recourse to the assistance of the 
Indian tribes who still adhered to the American soil. They were 
called " The Six Nations," but consisted chiefly of Mohawks, from 
the Mohawk Valley, in the state of New York, and a few relics 
of other nations, whose names may possess interest, but afforded 
no strength. This Indian aUiance has given rise to much use- 
less comment. By enlisting savage mercenaries in their service, 
and by denouncing the British for doing the same thing, the 
American government became liable to the charge of great in- 
consistency ; but, as we hold that the child of the soil, whether 
savage or civilized, is justified m resisting an invader, we have 
certainly no right to complam that the Americans should Jiave 
defended their country Avith the same weapons we ourselves em- 
ployed. The savage, as an instrument of] warfare, is not more 
repugnant to humanity than is war itself in any shape, — not more 
repulsive than mines and torpedoes, and the thousand hideous 
forms wliich war assumes at the hands of refined man. The savage 
may be inspired, may be taught, may be bribed, to pity and to spare. 
Bomb-shells and spherical case discriminate less, spare less, and 
are less placable. If, as is stated in tlie Buffalo Gazette, of the 
13th July, 1813 — "Our savage friends expressed a desire to scalp 
the dead, but were prevented,"— wo may adnVn-c the precaution 
which restrained an instinctive propensity ; but British writers cer- 
tainly caimot exclaim, if the savage, as^=ailed in his lair, should de- 
fend himself in a savage manner. But, without scolding at others, 
let us transpose the position ; let us show what we did to luunanize 
and mitigate the horrors of the war. It has been already shown 
that the employment of the Indians on the western frontier, 
was justified by necessity. The savage could not be neutral: 
his services were sought by the Americans, and secured by 
the British, simply because the hatred, engendered by years of 
wrong, was not to be appeased by bribes or cajolery. It will b« 
seen hereafter, how earnestly and how effectually the British com- 



RENEWED ATTACK ON YORK. 165 

manders, Brock, Proctor, and St. George, labored to neutralize the 
rancorous animosity of the Indian, and to divest of its venom the 
weapons which, in self-defence, they were compelled to use. On 
the Niagara frontier similar expedients had been employed. Early 
in 1813, a committee of officers, headed by General Vincent, had 
resolved to pay ten dollars for every prisoner brought in alive by 
his Indian captor. The Prince Regent subsequently approved and 
confirmed the proceeding. A Boston paper of the time noticed 
the resolution, in defiance of the " anathema maranatha^^ of the 
democratic press ; but from among the number saved, not one voice 
appears to have been raised in generous recognition, or in reply to 
the Thersites of the time, whose topgues, wherever England or 
Canada were concerned, " coined slanders like a mint." 

We will now, for a brief space, return to Lake Ontario, on our 
way down to the province of Lower Canada, and to the scene of 
war on Lake Champlain. On the 26th July, Commodore Chauncey 
agam appeared on Lake Ontario, in the new ship General Pyke, 
which so narrowly escaped destruction by Provost's retreat from 
Sackett's Harbour. With a fleet consisting of 14 vessels, mounting 
altogether 114 guns, and manned by 1,193 seamen, and having on 
board 300 regular troops, under Colonel Scott, he made an attempt 
on the position of Burlington Heights, Avhich was defended by 
Major Maule, and 150 rank and file. The troops were disembarked 
and embarked again. It was understood that the demonstration 
on Burlington Heights had attracted thither the Glengarries, which 
defended York ; and 

Ut canis a corio nunquam absterrebitur nncto, 

the Commodore and the Colonel determined to revisit the helpless 
scene of their former exploits. On the 31st July, they disem- 
barked, without opposition, at the point termed the " Garrison ;" 
took quiet possession of the town ; broke open the gaol, liberated 
the prisoners ; and took out of the stores of the inhabitants (called 



166 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

" public stores" in tlio despatch), several hundred barrels of flour 
and provisions. They destroyed barracks and other buildings, 
eleven boats — magnified into transports ; and having heaped mis- 
chief on misery, returned to their safe harbor at the mouth of the 
Niagara River.* 

While Chauncey was thus marauding at the western extremity of 
the lake, Sir James Yeo, after having destroyed the American camp 
at Forty-mile Creek, on the 13th June crossed the lake, captured 
two schooners and boats with supplies ; then secured a depot of 
provisions on the Genessee River. On the 19th he captured more 
stores and more provisions at a place called Great Sodus ; and on 
the 29th June returned to Kingston. On the 31st July, Sir James 
sailed from Kingston with supplies for the army ; and having landed 
them at Burlington Heights, steered for Niagara, and " looked 
in" — in nautical phraseology — as a challenge to Chauncey, who 
was not slow in accepting it. The British squadron consisted of 
six vessels of war ; the American amounted to fourteen. A great 
deal of manoeuvring took place on both sides — " bearing down " 
and " bearing up," " getting to windward " and " falling to 
leeward," on the " larboard tack " and on the " starboard 
tack," — scientific evolutions quite beyond the lubberly ken of 
landsmen ; which ended, however, intelligibly and in stern 
earnest. Two fine American schooners, the Scourge, of 8 guns, 
and the Hamilton, of 9, were upset in a squall, and all hands 
lost, except 16 saved by the British ; and two vessels of the 
same class, the Julia and the Growler, were cut off and captured. 
Chauncey, thou^i still by far the stronger, retired into Niagara. 
But these results were not conclusive, nor were they satisfiictory 
on our side of the lake ; and landsmen, who did not know the 
difference between a caboose and a marlinspike, and who can 

• James, Vol. II, 231. 



TACTICS OF SIR JAMES YEO. 167 

hardly be blamed if they could not stomach such matters, took 
upon themselves to pass very hard and very unjust comments 
upon Sir James Yeo. A British sailor was ^pected to do many 
impracticable things ; and among the rest, to catch an adversary 
who, being a quicker sailor, would not be caught, and whose long 
guns, at long distances, made it dangerous to follow. The fact 
is, that Sir James did his best to close with his adversary, but 
uuavailingly. And we have here the evidence of Dr. Richardson, 
who was then " sailing master " on board the flag-ship. The 
armament of the two squadrons governed, to a great extent, the 
movements of the commander. Sir James was provided, for the 
most part, with carronades, — excellent for rapid firing at close 
quarter, but unavailable at long range ; while, on the other hand, 
Chauncey had long guns, which gave him a decided superiority at 
a distance. Thus, while Yeo sought to " lay alongside," the other 
disapproved of these familiarities; and, as with sailing vessels, 
the closing in action depends on the weather gage, Chauncey's 
superiority in sailing enabled him to dechne coyly all delicate 
attentions of this sort. " I heard him once remark," says the 
venerable narrator, "to an observation from Captain Mule aster, 
* If we were on the high seas, I would risk an action at all hazards ; 
because, if I were beaten, I could only lose the squadron ; but to 
lose it on this lake, would involve the loss of the country. The 
salvation of the western army depends on our keeping open their 
communications.' "* Thus spoke out the man of thought as well as 
action ; thus spoke the man of head, with courage to do what his 
'• Drain dictated, — indifferent to disgrace if incurred in the service 
of his country. As a brave seaman, he .was beyond reproach. 

We now leave the blue Ontario for the picturesque shores of 
Lake Champlain ; and, on our way down the St. Lawrence, pause 

* Memoirs of Dr. Richardson, D.D. 



1G8 ' CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

for a moment at the scene of one of those daring and sometimes profit- 
less adventures to which seamen are prone. It befell at a place 
called, not inappropriately, Goose Creek, lying on the opposite side 
of the river, a little helow Gananoqne. On the 20th July, the enemy, 
lying perdu among the rocks and channels of the Thousand Islands, 
had pounced on a brigade of batteaux, conveying provisions and 
supplies from Montreal to Kingston, and had spirited away the 
whole convoy into the difficult and romantic recesses of "the creek 
before named. Three gun-boats, under Lieutenant Scott, and a 
detachment of the 100th, commanded by Captain Martin, were sent 
from Kingston, to intercept the American return to Sackett's Har- 
bour : a very sensible plan, which was unfortunately spoiled by a rush 
into his stronghold. They had reached the spot as evening fell, and 
were compelled, by the darkness, to defer the attack until morning. 
In the night came up Major Frend, of the 4th Foot, with an addi- 
tional gun-boat, and a small reinforcement. On his way he had en- 
countered Captain INIilnes, a promising young officer, and Aide-de- 
Camp to Sir George Prevost. Milnes vohmteered, of course ; and 
at 3 a.m., before dawn, the whole force felt its way forward. They 
found the enemy fully prepared. The channel became narrow ; 
the banks rocky and precipitous ; and large trees felled across the 
stream, brought them up in front of a log fort. The woods were 
jfiUed with riflemen; and the American plied well his national 
weapon. The seamen and troops leaped into the water — carried 
the heights, and drove the foe into their fort. But the odds and 
the difficulties were too great. Frend ordered the re-embarkation 
of the men, and fought his way out ; but with twenty-one casualties — 
among them the gallant Milnes, who was mortally wounded, and 
died shortly after, much dei)lorcd by his brothei-s in arms. 

The capture of this brigade of store-boats by the enemy — no 
unfreiiucnt occurrence on both sides — will convey some idea of the 
danger and difficulties surmounted in supplying a military force 



SUPPLIES TRANSPORT — SERVICES OF THE COMMISSARIAT. 169 

scattered from Quebec to Michilimacinac, along an exposed fron- 
tier of upwards of a thousand miles. It taxed talent, and energy, 
and foresight of no ordinary calibre to anticipate and pro\'ide for 
all wants — to evade or surmount all obstructions, in a climate which 
admits of but six months of water conveyance, and at that season, 
and on that line of communication, invites and aids attack ; and 
in a country where the roads in winter, though practicable, are 
so narrow, and at times so cut up, as to make the movement of 
weighty articles very slow and protracted. The baggage and daily 
supply of a regiment on the march, conveyed in a long single line 
of traineaux, would. occupy miles of road, from which to diverge 
one foot is to plunge uato three feet of snow ; and where a " break 
down" interrupts the advance of the whole line. .The troops had 
■ to be supplied for the present, and in anticipation of the casualties 
of the future. It will surprise men, hving in the abundance of 
productive and overflowing Canada, to learn that m 1813 the 
soldiery, the militia, and the Indians, were fed upon Irish mess- 
pork, and on "pilot bread," or ship biscuit, manufactured at 
Portsmouth. In a new country, where populatipn was scattered 
and cultivation sparse — where the produce barely sufficed for the 
support of the husbandman — and where war disturbed both sowing 
and harvest, it became necessary, in providing for the troops, to 
consider the wants of the whole population. It is, therefore, easy 
to imagine the arduous duties — the responsibilities — the mental 
labour which devolved upon the commissariat. What the belly 
was to the members, accordmg to the fable of ^sop, the brain was 
to the belly in the story of Canadian warfare. Shoes and bread 
were the real pabula belli. These essentials were regularly and 
plentifully supplied ; but to secure this supply, demanded great 
administrative talent ; a thorough knowledge of the country, the 
language, the means of conveyance, channels of communication, 
and of the. means and resources, however limited, which could be 
appealed to upon an emergency. 



170 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

Sir William Robinson was the commissary general, an experienced 
officer of the department, and an excellent link of connection 
between the expenditure of the war and the British treasury ; and 
lie was well supported. It must be evident that, in such a scene 
of scattered warfare, waged at the same time on remote frontiers, 
much was necessarily left to individual responsibility, and that 
much depended on the local knowledge and capacity of subordinate 
officers. Fortunately, Sir William found in the country a class of 
men, made to his hand, who possessed these requisites. Many 
of them were U. E. Loyalists — men who, for opinion's sake, had 
abandoned their counting-houses in Boston, New York, and Phila- 
delphia, and who had applied their commercial talents and habits 
of business to the impi'ovement of a new field of enterprise, and, 
in some cases, to the acquisition of a new tongue. Among the 
names of the officers of the commissariat department in Canada, 
returned in July, 1811, by Sir Gordon Drummond, will be found 
those of Isaac W. Clarke, Montreal ; James Crookshank, York ; 
James Coffin, Fort George ; William Stanton, York ; John Coffin, 
Quebec ; William Ross, Kingston ; Robert Reynolds, Amherstburg. 
All these gentlemen were U. E. Loyalists — living Avitnesses of the 
gratitude of the crown, which never ignores or forgets fidelity ; but 
visits and rewards it from the- father to the children. They proved, 
all, to be valuable officers in a branch of the service which can 
never be sufficiently estimated ; and among them no one more 
so than Isaac Winslow Clarke, Deputy Commissary-General of 
Montreal. 

The career of this gentleman is characteristic of the times. lie 
was one of the sons, and a partner in the business of Richard 
Clarke, a loyal Boston merchant, — consignee of the tea, which, 
destroyed by the violence of the mob in Boston Harbour, is noted 
as the first outbreak of the revdliition. As in all popular ('<»uvul- 
Bions, the weaker and the obnoxious party was treated mercilessly. 



SIR WILLIAM ROBINSON — ISAAC WINSLOW CLARKE. 171 

The Tory was knocked down, and talked down, and written down ; 
and, like in the fable of the lion, the man who put him down, gave 
his version of the exploit. The Clarkes were obnoxious to the 
men and the opinions of the day. The father took refuge in Eng- 
land, with his son-in-law, Copley the painter, and was written 
down and proscribed, without trial, in the " Boston Confiscation 
Act."* Isaac, the son, endeavouring to collect some debts due to 
the firm, at Plymouth, in Massachusetts, was paid in full by a mob 
at midnight. He executed a mutual discharge, saved his life, and 
followed his father to the fireside of his talented brother-in-law, 
where, with his sister, andher since celebrated son, the late lamented 
Lord Lyndhurst, he remained until appointed to the commissariat 
in Canada. In this country he served his Sovereign for fifty years. 
In 1812 he was regarded as an officer of great trust, of long expe- 
rience, and indefatigable zeal. The organization of the hatteaux 



* In an excellent American work "Biographical Sketches of the American 
Loyalists," published in Boston, 1847, and in a well-digested Preface, entitled 
an Historical Essay, the author, Lorenzo Sabine, admits, philosophically enoughj 
that the process of " tarring and feathering" was not one likely to reclaim an 
offending brother. What " brother," he exclaims, " who saw only with the 
eyes of a British subject, was won over to the right, by the arguments of mob- 
bing, burning, and smoking." He cites many instances of the cruelties of mob 
law, and closes with the following: " Did it serve any good end to endeavour 
to hinder Tories from getting tenants, or to prevent persons who owed them 
from paying honest debts? On whose cheek should have been the blush of 
shame, when the habitation of the aged and feeble Poster was sacked, and he 
had no shelter but the woods; when Williams, as infirm as he, was seized at 
night, dragged away for miles, and smoked in a room, with fastened doors and 
a closed chimney t jp ? What father who doubted whether to join or fly, deter- 
mined to abide the issue in the land of his birlh, because foul words were spoken 
to his daughters, or because they were pelted when riding, or moving in the 
innocent dance? Is there cause to wonder that some who still live, should yet 
gay of their own, or of their father's treatment, that " persecution made half of 
the king's friends." — Vide. pp. '76, 77. 



172 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

brigades was due to him. These boats — flat-bottomed,'*'of light 
draught, but carrying heavy cargoes — Avere partly towed, partly 
punted, partly dragged by ropes up the rapids of the St. LaAvrence. 
The crcAvs were supplied by a levy or corvee of French Canadians. 
Several thousands of these men were devoted to a service, for which 
they were peculiarly qualifie'd by a hardihood, activity, and cheerful- 
ness, — undaunted by fatigue. From five to seven voyageurs were 
assigned to each hatteau; but at certain difficult points the united 
strength of the whole brigade forced the boats, one b}'- one, up the 
stream. But the progress was slow, and the opportunities of attack 
many ; still, the precautions taken and the bold front shown, for 
the most part defeated these attempts. John Finlay, the executive 
officer at Lachine, distinguished himself by acts of vigour and 
devotion, which, in the sister service, would have been fame. The 
commanders in the field, and especially Sir Gordon Drummond, 
repeatedly expressed their obHgations to Mr. Clarke. Few but 
men in these high positions can appreciate the value of such un- 
pretentious services.* 



*In 1824 Deputy Commissary General Clarke, then 76 years of age, was on his 
way to England, where his friends had reason to expect that he would receive 
from the Crown the same marks of favour which had been bestowed on others. 
He died at sea, leaving one son, who was for many years private secretary to 
Lord Lyndhurst, when Lord Chancellor of England ; and two daughters — one 
the wife of the Hon. Charles R. Ogden, at one time Attorney-Gejieral in Lower 
Canada, and now Attorney-General in the Isle of Man ; the second sheds light 
and hapjiiness on the hand which traces these lines. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Montreal the centre of supply — Description of Montreal — View from top of the Mountain 
—Montreal of 1840 or 1864, not the Montreal of 1812— Montreal viewed as the Military- 
Key of Canada— Country around— "View of Belceil— Canadian scenery— Canadian 
people — The Habitants, their progress, improvement and characteristics — Strong temp- 
tation to invasion — Approach to Montreal and the Richelieu country — Description of 
Lake Champlain— American force on the New York frontier available for invasion. 

Montreal was the source and centre of supply. It was then, as 
it is now, the commercial emporium of the Canadas. In population 
it exceeded any other settlement on the St. Lawrence. Situated 
on an island in the combined embrace of the Rivers Ottawa and St. 
Lawrence, it possesses, partly from its latitude and partly from the 
great area of water with which it is surrounded, a mildness and 
softness of olimate unknown to any other part of Lower Canada. 
The Island of Montreal is longer, but not so wide, as the Isle of 
Wight ; and the St. Lawrence equals, in varymg width, the strait 
which divides that island from the coast of Hampshire.* In the 
rear of the city, running parallel to the river, at the distance of a 
mile and a half from the water's edge, rises a long ridge of rocky and 
precipitous hill, some 550 feet above water-level, from which is derived 
the original name " Mont Royal." The summit of this mountain 
commands a view, extensive and diversified. The city, with its 
towers, and spires, and public buildings, covers at the feet of the 



Montreal Island, - - 30 miles long, lOJ miles broad. 
Isle of Wight, ... 23 « 13 « 



174 CHRONICLE OF THE AVAR. 

spectator, an area of three miles, by one and a half. In mid- 
river lies the umbrageous island of St. Helen's — half park, half 
arsenal, glistening in the morning sun, like an emerald set in gold. 
The St. Lawrence, a mile and a half wide at the narrowest, extends 
east and west as far as the eye can reach, covered Avith ships fresh 
from the ocean, and by steamers numberless, leaving on the wind 
their murky trail. In mid-landscape, that architectural marvel, 
the Victoria Bridge, spans the river, in all its strength and beauty ; 
and the ear can detect the roar of each passing train which rushes 
through its iron ribs. Beyond, the rail -tracks wind through a 
champaign country, settled for two centuries, where farm houses 
and farm buildings Hrie the roads like streets, rich in population 
and rustic wealth ; while in the distance the twin mountains of 
Beloeil and Montarville, sites even more picturesque than their 
names, rise from the plain, insulce of beauty amid a sea of verdure. 
But the eye can hardly tear itself from the scene of cultivation 
close around. The slopes of the mountain, and the rich alluvial 
soil at its foot, are one entire garden. Villas and pleasure-grounds 
cover the hill-side. A beautiful reservoir, cleft out of the rock, 
glitters in the sunlight, with all the formal beauty of- a paysage by 
Watteau — the costumes and gay colours of the present day heighten- 
'm<^ the illusion — and imparts health and freshness to the city spread 
beneath. In the distant valleys, the agricultural skill of the English 
farmer combines with the minuteness and precision of the old French 
style of gardening to create a scene 

Ever changing, ever new : 

Wlien will the lanflscape tire llic view? 

Tlie fountiiin's fall ; the river's flow; 

The woody valley, warm and low ; 

Tho windy smimiit, wild and high — 

Roughly reaching to the sky ; 

Tiie i)leasant seat; the mined tower; 

The naked rock ; the shady bower ; 



MONTREAL IN 1812-1840-1864. 175 

The town— the village — dome — and farm : 
Each gives to each a double charm — 
Like pearls upon an Ethiop's arm. 

But the spectator from the hill-top, or the frequenter of St. James 
Street, or of the Rue Notre Dame, must not suppose that m 1812 
things were as thej are now. Not for twenty-five years later, did a 
civic government provide for the wants of advancing civilization ; not 
for twenty-five years, did gas-lights, or pavements, or hydrants exist. 
The long line of banks and stately edifices which now adorn St. 
James Street, rise from an abandoned grav3yard, which in 1812, 
was bounded by the crumbling city defenses. Fortification Lane 
was the foot of the town wall ; Craig Street was the town ditch ; 
beyond, on the upland, were country houses and orchards. In 
1812 the Rue Notre Dame, now flashing with plate-glass and piled 
stores of jewelry and brocade, was a narrow street of low, cozy 
Canadian houses, one story and a half high — the sancta of much 
genial grace and of unbounded hospitality. The nocturnal reveller 
— and there was a good deal of revelry in those days — who slipped 
off the disjointed stones, mis-called trotfoir, plunged mid-leg in mud, in 
the palpable darkness, without hope of refuge in a street-railway car, 
or of help from a sleepy pohceman. The modest old Catholic parish 
church, which in early days gave a Catholic welcome to the house- 
less Protestant congregations ,*stood lengthwise in front of the present 



* The Hon. Samuel Gerrard, who at the age of ninety yeai's, retained a vivid 
recollection of events coeval with the conquest, was wont to dwell with 
pleasure on the catholicity of the Catholic population and Priesthood of that 
time. Under the terms of the capitulation, if they had had any ill feeling to 
gratify, they might have been as exclusive as they pleased ; but obeying a noble 
inspiration they offered the use of their church to other Christian denomina- 
tions, and it received all members of the Christian family, until other provision 
was made. The benevolent influence of their first impulse has descended to 
the present generation, and pervades a whole community. There is not in 



176 CHRONICLE OF THE AVAR. 

noble church of Notre Dame — grand m design, though somewhat 
marred by a too great severity of style. Those splendid wharves, 
faced with miles of cut stone, unequalled in America, and rivalled 
only in Europe by the docks of Liverpool, or the quays of St. 
Petersburg, have replaced a nauseous bank, heaped with filth and 
garbage ; and a muddy islet, the receptacle of drift-wood and 
drowned animals ; and a turbid stream, from Avhence the strongest 
swimmer never rose. Montreal of the present day, with its palatial 
residences, — its places of public resort, — markets numerous, con- 
venient and ornamental, — with its cathedrals, churches, colleges, 
and convents, — with its multiplied institutions and social improve- 
ments, — with a population of 100,000 souls, is as superior to the 
Montreal of 1840, as the Montreal of 1840 Avas in advance of 
1812 ; and yet at that time Montreal was the commercial heart 
of Canada; the fountain of supply ; the focus of mercantile energy 
and wealth ; and was regarded as the grand end and aim — the 
promised prize of — American conquest. 

It was then universally believed in the United States that the 
fall of Montreal would entail the subjugation of Canada. This 
opinion may be questioned. Situated at the head of navigation 
from the ocean, and at the foot of all the channels of communica- 
tion with the upper country, the temporary occupation of Montreal 
would doubtless have compelled all the western garrisons to fall 
back upon Kingston ; but tlic force concentrated at the latter 
point, would have sufficed to keep at bay the American army 
then in the field, reduced, as it must have been, by detachments. 



Christendom a community more devoid of the vices and bigotry of sectarianism 
than that of Montreal. It is not that men of different persuasions tolerate each 
otlit-r — they unito in kindly and cordial feeling, socially, and in all matters of 
public concern. In matters of faith all claim liberty of conscience ; and, with- 
out derogating from their own opinions, respect the liberty they claim, by 
not interfering with those of otliers. 



DtSTRtCT 0¥ MONTREAL — VIEW FROM BEL(EIL. 177 

And It may be doubted whether the army from Western Canada, 
descending the St. Lawrence, might not have invested the inva- 
der, in a false position, on the wrong side of a wide river — which 
they could not bridge, and British gun-boats would soon command. 
The possession of Montreal would, no doubt, facilitate an attack 
upon Quebec. It had offered this facility to Amherst, in 1759-60 ; 
and to Montgomery, in 1775-76. And yet Quebec would have 
never fallen but for Wolfe's triumphant daring. Montgomery 
failed. And so long as the climate in winter, and the British navy 
in summer, command the St. Lawrence, Quebec is safe. 

Montreal was, indeed, in dangerous proximity to the American 
frontier, at a point where a large force could easily be placed within 
striking distance. Forty-five miles from Montreal, a vol dJ'oiseau, 
is the line which divides the State of New York from Lower Canada. 
It is commonly known as the " Line Forty-five," being on that parallel 
of latitude, established by treaty as the frontier of the two countries. 
This line intersects the head of Lake Champlain at Rouse's Point, 
where the lake narrows to a river, which, assuming there the name 
of the Richelieu, passes through the most fertile district of French 
Canada, and disembogues into the St. Lawrence at Sorel. The 
territory fertilized by this river is rich as the Delta of the Nile. 
It is a wide alluvial flat. It was long regarded as the garden of 
Canada. It was seized upon, at once, with instinctive appreciation, 
and settled by the first French settlers of the country. The tourist, 
who will scale the top of Beloeil, sees around him a striking pan- 
orama. The main roads appear to radiate from the foot of the 
mountain. The farms, on the old seigniorial system, are laid off, 
right and left of these roads, with a front of three acres by a depth 
of thirty. The farm-houses and buildings on every lot, for con- 
venience and mutual assistance in winter, front on the road. These 
houses — red-roofed, delicately whitewashed, kept with remarkable 

M 



178 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

neatness — surrounded by gardens and foliage, and well afranged 
fields, chequer the whole country. For miles and miles extend 
these vistas of dwellings, with a village church, its steeple glittering 
in the sunlight, and a modest jjreshijtere interpolated on the land- 
scape, every three leagues. The character of the population is in 
keeping with the scene. The French Canadian is eminently a 
gregarious animal, attached to his habitats. He hopes to live and 
die within sound of the bell which rang at his baptism. He is 
attached to his fellows, to his institutions, his language, his religion; 
ho is attached to his priesthood — who by their exemplary lives and 
their t;are, temporal as well as spiritual, deserve all his love. He 
is social and hospitable, courteous and courtly. The manners of the 
vieilU conr are still to be found among the habitants of Canada, 
and invest the females *of the race with an indescribable charm. 
But his attachment to the past makes him indifferent to the future. 
He is slow in improvement ; and in the great race of human })ro- 
gress is exposed to be left behind. And yet, those who have known 
these people for twenty years, can bear witness to an aavance, 
which, although it might be accelerated to their advantage, promises 
much. Education has made great strides. That which was regarded 
as an imposition, is now esteemed a privilege. In the small towns 
and villages, and even in the farm-houses, is seen a manifest 
increase in the comforts, the conveniences, the elegancies, and 
luxuries of life ; and with them, an increased independence of 
character. INIen think more for themselves, and are less easily led. 
Time was, when they were docile to a fault ; birt uj)on occasions, 
they have shown all the viv'ula vis of a gentle nature. When roused 
they are stern to savagcncss. 

The possessions of such a people were inviting to an invader — as 
the flesh-pots of Egypt. The government of the United States had, 
i'n- long, honored this part of Canada with special attention. To Mr. 
Secretary Armstrong, Montreal was as the apple of his eye. It 



RICHELIEU COUNTY — LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 179 

was argued pertinently enough — Why waste men and money upon 
distant frontiers ? strike at the vitals, and paralyze the extremities. 
Capture Montreal, and you starve de Rottenburg and Proctor. In 
Montreal your troops will find winter quarters and English Christ- 
mas cheer. As the Cabool prince remarked at Calcutta, rubbino- 
his hands with the leer of a freebooter — "A splendid place : ah, yes ! 
a splendid place to plunder." The fields on the Richeheu would 
forage and feed an army, more plentifully than the plains of the 
Low Countries. 

These counsels carried with them great weight ; and it will be 
seen that for the remainder of the campaign, the capture of 
^lontreal was the grand end and crowning object of American 
strategy. In furtherance of this scheme the cabinet of Washington 
assembled a large force on Lake Champlam. This lake runs due 
north and south ; and divides the State of New York from the 
State of Vermont. It is in length 130 miles, by a width of from 
one to fifteen. It is one great link in the chain of communication 
between the city of New York and the banks of the St. Lawrence. 
The Champlain canal, which connects the southern extremity of the 
lake with the River Hudson, was not commenced until 1818 ; nor 
could the proverbial ingenuity of the race in its wildest imagin- 
ation have conceived then, the network of American railroads 
which now converge on Rouse's Point. But, long before the introduc- 
tion of the rail, the internal channels of communication had greatly 
improved. In 1812 the country between Albany and Whitehall, 
about 80 miles, was open and cultivated ; the roads the best in 
America ; the Hudson afforded 140 miles of uninterrupted navigar 
tion, and Lake Champlain supplied the rest. 

•What Loughrig tarn is among the lakelets of North Britain, such 
is Lake Champlain to the lakes of North America. It is a perfect 
gem. The coast scenery of Erie and Ontario is comparatively 
tame : though undulating, it is in general aspect flat — a rich alluvial 



180 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

margin, acquired to the land in the course of ages, by the ^'adual 
retrogression of the water. But the coast of Lake Champlain rises 
rapidly into upland, backed on both shores by mountain peaks, 
which, if of no great altitude, are most beautiful in shape and 
grouping. The waters are pure and deep, and studded with lovely 
isles. The alternate coasts, never lost to view, are dotted over with 
villages, and homesteads, and farms ; and teem with flocks and 
herds, and elaborate cultivation. The cities of Burlington and 
Plattsburg adom its shores ; and Ticonderoga and Crown Point, 
associated with tales of Indian stratagem, and of the old French 
wars, impart pictorial beauty and historical interest to the Horican^ 
immortahzed by the pen of Cooper. 

At the time when General Dearborn retired into winter quarters, 
in 1812, he had under his command, on Lake Champlain, an army 
of at least 12,000 men. This fine force was partially moved to 
Sackett's Harbor ; and frittered away in the spring in the raid 
upon York and the empty acquisition of Fort George, to the great 
dissatisfaction of the Government at Washington. But on the 
retirement of this officer, the commander in the field concurred 
with the cabinet. In the summer of 1813 about 6,000 men were 
collected at Burlington and Plattsburg ; and extensive barracks were 
prepared for the reception of troops at these points — at Champlain 
in New York, and Swanton in Vermont. Commodore Macdonough, 
with a force of seamen from the seaboard, was actively engaged in 
fitting out a naval armament on the Lake. These preparations 
bespoke their object. The aspect of affairs on this frontier was very 
menacing. 



CHAPTER XVIL 

Sir George Prevost and Sir James Craig— Sir James a good man but obdurate— Sir George 
politic and useful— He identifies himself with the people— They support him and British 
rule — The Legislature legalize the issue of army bills, and vote additional militiji 
forces— Exchequer Bills — Sir George prepares for defence— English Volunteers — 
French Militia— The two people incline to different systems of enrolment — Both readily 
unite against common enemy^Isle aux Noix — Attempt made to surprise this post- 
Capture of American schooners Growler and Eagle — Reprisals— Officers and men of 
H. M. brig of war, Wasp, transferred to Lake Charaplain— Plattsburg, Swanton, Cham- 
plain, destroyed- Burlington challenged— Blockade of the seaboard by the British — 
Increased American strength on the Lakes, 

Sir George Prevost, necessarily resident at Quebec, the seat of 
Government, retained the chief military command in Lower Canada. 
.In 1811 he had succeeded in the government a man of great talent 
and energy — eminent for his services in Europe, Asia, Africa, and 
America ; but unsuccessful in Canada. Sir James Craig was an 
honest man and a brave soldier ; but he had governed soldiers all his 
life, and his ideas of government squared with the rules of discipline. 
He had none of the flexibility of character which constitutes a suc- 
cessful administrator under a constitutional system. He came at 
once into collision with the legislature. And in those days there 
tras no responsible council to fend off the blow of the battering- 
ram. The assembly humbly prayed to be allowed to defray the 
expenses of the civil list. The prayer had doubtless a double 
object : the privilege to pay inferred a right to discharge and the 
alternative was ominous to some of Sir James' advisers. But the 
request was reasonable ; and Sir James was wrong in refusing 
to lay it at the foot of the throne. His acts were maliciously, and 



182 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. ^ 

perhaps, seditiously reviewed. He seized on the newspaper, and 
sent the editor to gaol. This might have been the usual practice 
at Cape Town or Madras, at Gibraltar or Messina, but it was not 
suited to the climate or constitution of Canada. These acts brought 
him in direct antagonism with a majority in the assembly, which 
being French Canadian, fastened upon him at once the imputation 
of hostility to the Canadian people. This, no unusual ruse in politics, 
was nothing but a ruse. As Sir James said, with much pathos, " For 
what should I oppress you ? Is it from ambition ? What can you 
give me ? Is it for power ? Alas ! my good friends, with a life 
ebbing not slowly to its period, under pressure of disease acquired 
in the service of my country, I look only to pass what it may 
please God to suffer to remain of it, in the comfort of retirement 
among my friends. I remain among you only in obedience to the 
commands of my King."* The fact is, that he Avas an honest, 
earnest man ; but too much of a martinet to be a useful civil 
governor. He returned home and died. 

Sir George Prevost was made of more malleable material ; and 
happily so, for the country and for the empire. Not all the power of 
England could, of itself, at that conjuncture have saved Canada, 
had not Canada been true to England and to herself. The 
preservation of the country depended on the support of the 
legislature, and on the good will of the masses. He identified him- 
Bclf with the masses ; and, at a most qritical moment, secured their 
cordial co-operation. The acts of the legislature — their ready 
contributions to the conduct of the war, bear witness to his success 
as a civil administrator. He was politic as well as just. But under 
a fonn of government which rules by ])arties, he could not ])lease 
both, and in his turn he incurred an hostility which was neither 
blind to his faults nor kind to his errors. There can be no stronger 



• Morgan, Celeb. Can., p. IGO. 



LOYALTY OF LOWER CANADIAN LEGISLATURE. 183 

proof of the influence he exercised and of the earnest loyalty of the 
people than the liberality of the Legislature. At this time it was 
all important to provide a currency as a substitute for gold, which, 
if put in circulation, would have found its way rapidly to a better 
market in the United States. It was desirable to be prepared with 
an expedient to counteract an accidental dearth of gold. Banks 
and Bank notes were unknown in Canada. To many of the inhab- 
itants a paper currency was unintelligible — to some obnoxious, — 
the recollections of the paper currency of French rule — the or don- 
nances or assignats of Bigot and his compeers were yet rife. In the 
face of these popular prejudices the Legislature legalized the 
issue of a paper currency. They authorized the issue of what was 
termed an Army Bill, analogous to the Exchequer Bill in England. 
It was a bank note bearing interest. These notes were toade a legal 
tender. They were more than legalized, they were popularized by 
the example of the Legislature. The issue amounted to -12,000,000. 
The Legislature provided for the expense of the operation and the 
temporary payment of interest. These Bills were redeemed by 
the Imperial treasury at the etid of the war, but the action of the 
Legislature of Lower Canada at this critical time was declaratory 
of confidence in British rule and of a determination to uphold it. 



* In 1658 the people of Canada were informed that the Royal Treasury of 
France was in no conditionto repay the advances the Canadians had made to 
the Government. That the payment of Colonial Bills drawn upon it was sus- 
pended for a time. Vaudreuil and Bigot were apprized of this measure by an 
oflScial circular. * * » This news .startled these concerned, like a thunder- 
bolt; there was owing by France to the Colonists more than 40 millions of francs 
(say £1,600,000 stg.) and there was scarcely one of them who was not a creditor 
of the State. " The paper money amongst us" wrote M. de Levis to the Minister 
"is entirely discredited and the people are in despair about it. They have 
sacrificed their all for the conservation of Canada to France ; now they find 
themselves ruined, resourceless, but we do our best to restore their confidence.' 
— Garneau, History of Canada, Vol. II, p 68. 



184 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

If Great Britain had failed in the contest, the Legislative endorsers 
of these notes would have been responsible for the paper.* 

The example of the Legislature was worthily sustained bj the 
exhortations of the Catholic clergy. In no Cathohc country in 
Christendom does the clergy exercise a stronger or more healthy 
influence than in Canada. They are the domestic chaplains of 
every farm-house. In devotion and loyalty to the British Crown 
they are second to none. It has been sho^vn on all occasions Avhich 
justified their interposition. In 1775 Sir Guy Carlton declared 
publicly, that if the Provmce of Canada had been preserved to Great 
Britain, it was owing to the Catholic clergy. 

In 1812 the Catholic church in Canada was under the guidanco 
of the Rev. Joseph Octave Plessis, Bishop of Quebec. This able 
Ecclesiastic was contemporary with the treaty which ceded Canada 
to England. He was a native of Montreal, born in 17G3. He 
became Bishop of Quebec in 1806. His services, in the protection 
of his church, and in the promotion of the best interests of his people, 
were most honourable ; but, among them all, none do greater credit 
to his heart and head than his constant adherence to the British 
Crown. 

* Exchequer Bills — Macaulay explains what they were. " Another and at 
that conjuncture, a more effectual substitute for a njetallic currency owed its 
existence to the ingenuity of Charles Montague. He had succeeded in engraft- 
ing on Harley's Land Bank Bill, a clause which empowered the government to 
issue negotiable i)aper bearing interest at the rate of three-pence a day on a 
hundred pounds. In the midst of the general distress and confusion appeared 
tiie first Exchequer Bills, drawn for various amounts from a hundred pounds 
down to five pounds. These instruments were rapidly distributed over the 
kingdom l)y post, and were everywhere welcome. The Jacobites talked 
violently against them in every Coffee House and wrote mucii detestable verse 
against them, but to little purjiose. The success of the plan was such that the 
Ministers at one time resolved to issue twenty shilling Bills for the jiayment of 
tlie troops. But it does not ajjpear that their resolution was carried into eUTeot. 
History of England, vol. iv. p. G08. 



ARCHBISHOP PLESSIS — HIS OPINIONS. 185 

Nor was the Prelate a blind or an unreasoning adherent. He 
gave good ground for the faith that was in him. " In considering 
the system of vexatious tricks organized against the church and 
people of Canada, by chiefs and subordinates who were sent from 
the Court of Louis the XV., at that time under the sceptre of 
Madame de Pompadour, he admitted, frankly, that under the English 
Government the Catholic clergy and rural population enjoyed more 
liberty than was accorded to them before the conquest ;" and after 
having praised the English nation, " which had welcomed so gener- 
ously the French Ecclesiastics, hunted out of France by the Repub- 
licans of 1792," he added, " that the capitulation, as well as the treaty 
of 1763, were so many new ties of attachment to Great Britain, and 
that religion itself would gain by the change of domination."* 

It was in the spirit of this manly avowal, that he issued his man- 
demerit or episcopal proclamation, read in every church in his dio- 
cese, and concluded in the following elocpient language : " Cruerriers^^ 
said he, " it is to you that belongs the task of opposing yourselves, 
like a wall.f to the approach of the enemy. They will cease to be 
formidable when the God of battles fights on your side ; under his 
holy protection, march to combat as to victory : sustain that repu- 
tation for obedience, for discipline, for valour and for intrepidity 
by which you deserved your first success. Your confidence will 
not be vain, if in exposing your lives for the defence of your country 
and your hearths, you take care before all things to make your peace 
with God." 

These sentiments of the Bishop were enforced by his clergy with 
a quiet undemonstrative earnestness, which is energy, without the 
pretence it often assumes. It pervaded, encouraged, emboldened 



•Life of Mongrandeur Plessis, by L'Abbe Ferlaad, Translated by D. B, 
French, p. 14. Vide ibid., p. 23. 

t The expression of Stonewall Jackson was here anticipated, 



186 CURONICLE OF THE WAR. -• 

all men. A remarkable incident, hereafter, on the battle-field of 
Chatcauguay will exemplify its influence.* 

Sir George Prevost applied, vigorously, the resources at his com- 
mand to the protection of his threatened frontier. He had, at this time, 
cantoned in the districts of Montreal, Laprairie, St, John's, and 
Chamblj, about 3,000 men ; two-thirds of which were Voltigeurs and 
embodied militia. It is curious to observe the varying characteristics 
of the races, in the terms of service most acceptable to each. The 
French Canadian preferred to be a conscript ; the Anglo-Canadian 
insisted upon being a volunteer. f 

• Human story reproduces itself. Let us take the testimony of Burke, given 
twenty years before. " Wiien tiie English nation seemed to be dangerously, if 
not irrevocably divided — when one, and that the most growing branch, was 
torn from the parent stock, and ingrafted on the power of France, a great 
terror fell upon this kingdom. On a sudden we awakened from our dreams 
of conquest, and saw ourselves threatened with an immediate invasion, which 
we were, at that time, very ill-prepared to resist. You remember the cloud 
that gloomed over us all. In that hour of our dismay, from the bottom of 
the hiding-places into which the indiscriminate rigour of our statutes had 
driven them, came out the body of the Roman Catholics. They appeared 
before the steps of a tottering throne with one of the most sober, measured, 
steady and dutiful addresses that was ever presented to the Crown. It was 
no holiday ceremony, no anniversary compliment of parade and show. It was 
signed by almost every gentleman of that persuasion, of note or property in 
England. At such a crisis nothing but a decided resolution to stand or fall 
with their country, could have dictated such an address; the direct tendency 
of which was to cut off all retreat, and to render them peculiarly obnoxious 
to an invader' of their own communion. The A<lilress showed what I had long 
languished to see, that all subjects of England had cast off all foreign views 
and connections, and that every man looked for his relief from every grievance 
at the iiands only of his own national government. — Hiuke, Speech before the 
Bristol Election, Sept., 1781. 

t It was the boast of the soldiers, as we find it recorded in their solemn 
resoluti(Uis, that they liad not been forced into tlie service, nor iiad enlisted 
chiefly for the sake of lucre ; that they were no janzzaries, but free-born Eng- 



MILITIA SYSTEMS — THE VOLUNTEER AND THE CONSCRIPT. 187 

Both Briton and Gaul made good soldiers in the field ; but the 
one stood on his independence, and accepted bounty-money; the other 
eschewed soldiering en amateur, yet cheerfully obeyed the draft. 
Both acted in accordance with their traditions. Since the days of 
Cromwell, the Englishman has been free to fight for whom he pleases. 
He enlists for reasons best known to himself ; and " takes the shil- 
ling," because he chooses. The Frenchman has been a feudal fol- 
lower of his lord and of his king from his earliest to his latest history. 
The terms of his tenure in Canada revived a system not then extinct 
in France, and perpetuated habits of thought and action derived from 
his ancestors. He obeyed with the same devotion with which he would 
have followed a Montmorenci or a Cond^ ; and with an inborn recol- 
lection of the discipline of Royal Roussillon or Gui^nne. It was 
necessary to devise and adapt a system suited to the genius of both 
races of the population ; and Sir George Prevost did so. 

In no part of Canada have the two peoples so much amalgamated 
as in the district of Montreal. It would be more correct, perhaps, 
to say assimilated : each race still retains its distinctive features ; 

Each gives to each a double charm, 
Like pearls upon the Ethiop's arm. 

But commerce and constitutional government have exercised their 
influence ; and we see that tendency to a union of the Norman and 
Saxon elements which, in the course of ages, has made England 
what she is. On this occasion, as ever since, in qviestions of 
national defence, a generous rivalry animated both races. The 
Frenchman bore no love to the puritanical " Bostonnais," whose pre- 
vious visits were not held in pleasant recollection. The Englishman 
rankled in the face of a nation which heaps upon him and his 



lishmen, who had, of their own accord, put their lives in jeopardy for the 
liberties and religion of England, and whose right and duty it was to watch 
over the welfare of the nation which they had saved. — Macaulay, Vol. II, p. 94. 



188 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

country, contumely and vituperation. Hard words may break no 
bones, but they offer a poor salve to old sores. Thus, with the 
cordial aid of an united population, Sir George made vigorous 
arrangements for the defence of this frontier.* 

About ten miles below the outlet of Lake Champlain, barring 
the channel of the Richelieu, stands the military post of Isle aux 
Noix — now a fortress, then a swampy island, protected by rude 
breastworks and a wooden block-house. In 1812, when the only 
means of communication was by water, Isle aux Noix Avas regarded 
as a bulwark of the frontier. The country on each side of this fortalice 
was, for many miles, an impenetrable forest. It is now cleared and 
cultivated ; traversed by roads, and seamed with railways. In those 
days it was regarded as the portal of the district. Here was 
stationed a small regular garrison. Here, not long before. Sir 
James Craig had caused to be conveyed three gun-boats, built at 
Quebec. In the summer of 1813 the garrison consisted of detach' 
ments of the 13th and 100th regiments, and a small party of 
aii:il!ery, under command of Major Taylor, of the 100th. f 

The Americans, shortly after the commencement of the war, had, 
on their part, built and equipped a small flotilla, to watch the 
entrance to the lake, and protect its waters from insult. This object 
is now secured by a strong but small work, called Fort Montgomery, 
which, on the verge of the frontier, and at the margin of the river, 
prevents the British from getting out, as effectually as Isle aux 
Noix prevents the Americans from getting in. It may be question- 
able if, in the event of a war, cither work would, under the present 

• la September was embodied another battalion of mlHtla, called the Fifth 
Battalion, afterwards Canadian Chasseurs; while the merchants and traders 
of the 1st Montreal Sedentary Militia organized themselves into four companies 
of volunteers for garrison duty, and field service in case of emergency,— 
Cliristie, Vol. II, p. 41. 

t Jamee, Vol. II, p. 239. 



ATTACK ON ISLE AUX NOIX— CAPTURE OF EAGLE AND GROWLER. 189 

circumstances of the frontier and conditions of warfare, prove auc-ht 
else than a mere man-trap, in which soldiers are confined alive, to 
be disposed of at leisure. A few scows filled with stones and sunk 
in the muddy channel, would probably answer the purpose, at a less 
expenditure of men and money. 

Little apprehension was entertained at Isle aux Koix of an 
attack from the lake, when at day-break on the morning of the 1st 
June, a sentry on the southern rampart discovered trucks, and 
streamers, and the masts of tall vessels rising above the mists 
which at early morn, and at that season of the year, settle down 
upon the marshy banks of the river. The alarm was given— the 
garrison was roused— the gun-boats manned, and got under wei<Th- 
and, feeling their way through the fog, came upon two armed sloops, 
of from 90 to 100 tons each, armed each with 10 guns— eighteen- 
pounder carronades and long sixes ; and each mounting on a pivot 
an eighteen-pounder Columbiad. The object of the incursion was 
never made intelligible. It was venturesome, but indiscreet. 
Without the cooperation of a land force nothing could have been 
effected. The armed vessels could only have approached the works 
to their own assured destruction. From the nature of the channel 
they could not bring their broadside guns to bear : following in file 
the fire of the one impeded the fire of the other. As it was, the gun- 
boats had them at their mercy, and raked both. Major Taylor, per- 
ceiving his advantage, landed men from the boats and batteaux, md 
lining the bushes on either side of the stream, kept up a galling fire of 
musketry. After a contest of three hours and a half, they struck 
their colours ; and proved to be the Growler and Eagle, armed 
sloops, with a complement of fifty men each, and commanded by 
Captain Sidney Smith, late of the Chesapeake. The Growler was 
brought to the garrison in safety ; the Eagle was so mauled by her 
puny antagonists, that she was run ashore to save her from sinkings 
but was got off, afterwards, and repaired. 



190 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

This unexpected attack and its results, exposed theliospitals, 
barracks, and stores in preparation on Lake Champlain for " Mon- 
treal service," and encouraged the British to attempt their des- 
truction. Sir George Prevost, in a despatch to Brock, in July, ] 812, 
had remarked most justly, that " our numbers would not justify 
offensive operations, unless calculated to strengthen a defensive 
attitude." There can be no doubt but that, at this moment, the best 
defence was to be found in disarming further attack. 

Preparations were made accordingly. The prizes were re- 
equipped ; the three gun-boats put in the best order ; a flotilla of 
row-boats and batteauj^ provided for the conveyance of troops. But 
the movement was paralyzed for the want of mariners. Fortunately, 
there was then lying at Quebec H. M. brig of war, Wasp. Her 
gallant commander, Everard — Pring, his second — and their whole 
crew volunteered to man the vessels on Lake Champlain. The service 
was readily accepted — the men transported to their destination — 
and on the 29th of July, the expedition left Isle aux Noix for 
Lake Champlain. The miUtary force consisted of detachments of 
the 18th, 100th, and 103rd regiments — about 1000 officers and 
men, under command of Lieutenant Colonels Williams, Taylor, and 
Smith. A small artillery force, under Captain Gordon, and a few 
embodied mihtia were added ; and the whole placed under Lieu- 
tenant Colonel John Murray, of the 100th, one of the most prominent 
officers of the war. On the following day the flotilla reached Platts- 
burg — landed — dispersed the militia under General Moore — and de- 
stroyed the barracks on the Saranac, which were preparing ibr the 
reception of 4,000 men.* They upset Pyke's encampment, burned 
the arsenal, hospital, store-houses ; and removed a large quantity of 
naval and military stores. Everard then stood across the lake to 
Burlington, in the Growler — now re-named the Broke — accompanied 
by one gun-boat. He was close in on the 2nd August : found two 

• Murray's Dospiitcli, 3rcl August, 18G3. 



THE BRIIISH SWEEP LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 191 

sloops, one of 11 and the other of 13 guns, ready for sea ; and a 
third, somewhat larger, lying under protection of a battery of 10 
guns, mounted on a high bank, while two floating batteries and field- 
pieces. (HI the shore, strengthened the position.* Everard captured 
and destroyed four vessels under the eyes of this very superior force, 
which he very wisely abstained from attacking. The barracks and 
stores of Swanton, on Missisquoi Bay, were destroyed, as were also 
the barracks, block stores, and buildings at Champlain town ; the 
contemplated mischief was frustrated for a time, and the expedition 
returned to Isle aux Noix. This irruption, which was essentially 
a military movement of great importance, was denounced by the 
American press as an outrage. The British were stigmatized as 
" faithless ruffians, unprincipled invaders. "f They forged that on 
the following day was perpetrated the second descent by Commodore 
Chauncey on York, a place already plundered, half depopulated, 
and where there was, at the time, no military establishment. 

This bold stroke, on the part of the British, disconcerted for the time 
the American project to invade Lower Canada by the most natural and 
accessible channel, and with the aid of a naval force ; and it now 
becomes necessary to explain the circumstances which had about 
this time much facilitated their naval preparations on the northern 
lakes. The Government of Washington had made the best use of 
adversity. Driven to bay upon the sea-board, they devoted their 
energies, their men, and material to then- inland waters, and from 
a new stand of vantage dealt forth strenuous blows. 



• Everard's Despatch, 3rd August, 1863. 
t James, Vol. II, p. 244. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

stung by reverses the British Admiralty acted with vigour— Ships Were equipped of a 
calibre to meet the Americans— Americans blockaded in their own harbours— Commerce 
destroyed, revenue ruined— Seamen useless on the ocean, transferred to the Lakes- 
Naval engagements— Dominica and Decatur— Pelican and Argus— Boxer and Enter- 
prize— Cruise of the President under Commodore Rodgers— Detroit frontier— Unplea- 
sant vicissitudes— Story of the Frontier— S(iuire Reynolds— Uis narrative— Early state 
of the Detroit Frontier— Building of Fort Miami— Who paid for it— Surrender of 
Michigan Territory and Detroit to Americans under Jay's Treaty 1796— British war- 
vessels on the Upper(Lakes allowed to rot— Brock's interview with the Indians— June 
1812— First scalp taken by the American McCulloch— Indian exasperation— Resolution 
to retaliate— Declaration of war received 28th June, 1812— Capture of the Cayuga 
Packet by Lieut. Rolette. 

We will, therefore, return to the ocean, wWcli we left on the 1st 
June, after the successful issue of the contest hetween the Shannon 
and the Chesapeake. Long hefore this event occurred — early in 
the year — the British admiralty, stung into activity by pre\aous re- 
verses, had despatched to the coast of America vessels of a class, and 
in such strength, as to sweep the sea of the American cruisers, and 
compel the best and bravest of their ships and officers to take refuge 
in their own harbours. In Feb. 1813, Sir John Borlase Warren, 
having established a vigilant blockade of the American coasts, inter- 
cepted their carrying and coasting trade, and ruined their commerce.* 
The public revenue sank from ^24,000,000 to -1*8,000,000. The 
Bays of the Chesapeake and Delaware were scoured by Admiral Cock- 
bum and a light squadron ; great damage inflicted on naval stores 
and arsenals, and the towns on the coast kept in a continual state 
of harassment. A few comments which it is proposed to make on 
the occurrences of this naval campaign, and on the atrocities charged 

• Alison, Yol. IV, p. 462, Am. edition. 



•NAVAL ENGA&EMENTS — PELICAN AND AEGUS. 193 

against Cockburn and his crews, are postponed to a later and more 
opportune occasion in the course of this narrative. The effect of 
the blockade was to shut up the American frigates in the ports of 
the Atlantic, and to transfer their officers and crews to Lakes Cham- 
plain, Ontario, and Erie. Thus it was that Captain Sidney Smith, 
late of the Chesapeake, was found and captured at Isle aux Noix. 
Thus it was that Commodore Perry, on Lake Erie, and later still. 
Commodore Macdonough, on Lake Champlain, were enabled to do 
such good service to their country. 

But, not to interrupt the even tenor of our inland way hereafter, 
it may be as well to note here a few remarkable events of maritime 
war which signalized the summer. On the 5th August, the Dominica, 
a British schooner of twelve guns, 67 men, and nine boys, was cap- 
tured by the American privateer Decatur, Captain Dominique Diron, 
mounting half the number of guns ; but one, an 18-pounder, on a 
pivot, of more value than all the guns engaged, and supplied by a 
complement of 120 men. The American, confident in his numbers 
carried the Dominica by boarding. The obstinacy of the contest 
is best shown by the hst of casualties. The Dominica lost her 
captain, Lieutenant Bar^td, purser, two midshipmen, and thirteen 
men killed, and forty wounded. Out of a crew of seventy-six souls, 
fifty-seven were hors de combat before she surrendered. 

On the 12th of the same month, the Pelican, a British eighteen 
gun brig, just in from a cruise, was despatched from Cork before 
she furled sails, to encounter an American war schooner, known to 
be committing depredations in St. George's Channel. She proved 
to be the Argus, of 20 guns. After a sharp action of forty-five 
minutes, the American was carried by boarding. Her captam, 
Allen, was killed in the action. The Pelican was the superior vessel 
of the two. She was heavier in tonnage, and threw a broadside 
341bs. more than her adversary, but the Argus had the advantage 
jn crew by about 20 men. 

N 



194 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

Later In the year, on the 5th September, the British brig of war 
Boxer, of 14 guns, lying at anchor off Portland, Maine, discovered 
a sail in the offing ; -weighed, and brought to action the American 
gun brig Enterprize, of 16 guns. Here the advantage in tonnage 
and weight of metal was on the side of the Americans. In men 
they were 120 to 60. The usual sanguinary scene ensued. The 
fighting on both sides was desperate. Both of the captains, Blythe 
and Burrows, were killed, and the British ship was surrendered when 
her crew was reduced to 27 men. Her colours could not be hauled 
down ; they had been nailed to the mast. Greeks may have met Greeks 
in a manner worthy of all imitation, but it may be doubted if they 
ever surpassed British or American sailors at the close of an action. 

These were the most remarkable events of this naval campaign : 
Commodore Rogers, in the President, made along cruise, prolific in 
despatches, during which he was always running away from some- 
body, or somebody running away from 'him. He made a few prizes, 
and a great escape, and successfully got home, which appears to 
have been the greatest success of his expedition. 

We will now retrace our steps from the ocean to our own inland 
seas — from the sea-board of the Atlantic to the Detroit frontier. 
Here, in the extreme West, the war had undergone many vicissitudes. 
The scenes there enacted have, to a certain extent, been already 
recorded as they befell ; but for a clear understanding of the 
catastrophes of this campaign, it is well to recapitulate some of 
the early occurrences of the year. It is not a pleasant tale to tell 
which terminates in disaster, but a great nation looks upon reverses 
as the true test of prowess, and whether on the banks of the Canadian 
Thames, or in the rocky fastnesses of Cabool, encounters the decree 
of fate with dauntless front. From these, and a thousand such 
ordeals, England has emerged, purified, and strengthened. All that 
men of British lineage wish to know upon subjects such as these is 
the truth. The wisdom, which truth inspires, has long since taught, 



DETROIT FRONTIER — SQUIRE REYNOLDS. 195 

that we can never be told the truth too often, or too emphaticallj, 
and we are permitted ' on this occasion to draw it from a source 
beyond all peradventure. 

All men who know Amherstburg, or Maiden, as it is often called, 
know Squire Reynolds. There is not in all the Western Counties 
a man better known or more respected. He is in fact an institu- 
tion — one of the oldest and earliest in the country. At the age of 
eighty-three, he unites the mental vigour of middle age with a 
wonderfid amount of bodily activity and buoyancy of spirits. His 
vitahty is Palmerstonian. This gentleman exercises in his part of 
the country the functions of a patriarchal Rhadamanthus. He is 
the universal arbitrator and referee. If you want safe law or 
intelhgible logic ; if you want counsel for the present, advice for 
the future, or an inkling of the past, you are handed over at once, 
and as a matter of course, to Squire Reynolds. He lives in a snug 
homestead, more villa than farm-house — low, with extended wings — 
embedded m a grove of fine old pine trees. In front flows the Detroit, 
literally seamed with long lines of schooners, tugged and towed by 
little ungainly steamers — the " Black Dwarfs" of the river, small, 
ugly, but possessed of giant strength—and which scare up from the 
surrounding waters, flocks of innumerable wild-fowl. Around him 
are the inclosures and gardens, and the indescribable mass of out- 
buildmgs, which the protection of his cattle in winter imposes upon 
the Canadian farmer— with an eye, in early days, to the wolves — 
perhaps to the Vidians. We are reminded in the long low irregular 
building, in the court yards and out-stedings, and even by the 
relics of a former " stockade," of " Rotherwood, the dwelUng of 
Cedric the Saxon." 

With this introduction, the kindly old gentleman may be left to 
speak for himself. Seated in his rocking-chair, before a cozy log 
fire, at his own hearth-stone on the shores of the Detroit, on this 
misty November morning,— he jerks himself back from before the 
blaze, and exclaims— 



196 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

" Know sometlimg of the country ! Why, I think I do. I knew 
it before it was made, and have seen it grow, every inch, since. I 
remember when, with the exception of this little strip of settlement, 
hardly wider than the Beach Lots where we now are, there was not 
a house between Huron and Ontario. No man but the hunter tra- 
versed that wilderness, of which London is now the centre. Our 
communications from ' below ' were all by water. The Courts of 
Law were transported by water. Well do I remember when, in 
1802, the Brig Speedy, Thomas Paxton, master— father of Major 
Paxton, of Fighting Island— was lost on the Lake, and the Judge 
and the Jury, Crown Offices, and litigants— all went down in her. 

" My father was Commissary to the British troops at Fort Detroit 
—at that time the chief trading port and military settlement in this 
part of the world. I was born there in 1781. At this time the 
whole State of Michigan was British Territory— the river Miami 
divided it from the State of Ohio,— and we were often and much 
disturbed by quarrels, and bloody fights at times, between the 
Indians of our territory and the frontier settlers, who could not be 
kept back. 

" At length, in 1794, Governor Simcoe, with the authority of the 
British Government, caused a Fort to be built at the mouth of the 
Miami, for the protection of our frontier. Pilkington, late General 
Pilkington, of the Engineers, planned it and supermtended the 
construction. Colonel England was in garrison there with part of 
the 24th Foot. In 1795, by Jay's Treaty, a new line of frontier 
was established. The Americans persuaded the British Govern- 
ment that the Line of the St. Lawrence and the Lakes, was the 
safest frontier between the countries, and so, for the sake of a 
quiet house, they gave up all the frontier posts— Oswegatchie, 
Oswego, Niagara, Miami, and Detroit. I saw the British flag 
hauled down from the flagstaff of Detroit at noon, 11th July, 1796. 
I saw it again hoisted by Brock, at noon of Sunday, 16th August, 
1812. 



DETROIT IN 1796 — MICHIGAN ABANDONED. 197 

*' When we gave up Detroit, the river was wider than it is now 
in front of that huge city. It must have been at least 1,000 yards 
wide then, but the wharves on both sides have much encroached 
on the waters. The fort stood back on a rising bank about 700 
yards in the rear of the river. We left it in capital order. The 
troops were withdrawn and quartered at Sandwich and Fort Mai- 
den. We had at that time the entire control of the waters of the 
upper Lakes. We had a flotilla, composed of two large brigs, 16 
guns each ; one schooner of 8 guns ; and three gun-boats of one 
gun each. They were all allowed to rot. 

" Thus England abandoned Michigan, a territory as big as Spain— 
with its coal mines and other resources— and our Indian allies were 
left to the tender mercies of the Ohio trappers, who invaded their 
hmiting grounds, and drove them to desperation. Lord Dorchester 
went home in disgust, remarking that Canada was a new ' Arcady 
the Blest,' to be protected, thenceforward, by catch-poles and javelin 
men. Well did Lord Chatham exclaim, before this time, that the 
diplomatists of England threw away, with a dash of the pen, what 
her soldiers had won at the point of the bayonet. 

" There was a gentleman of your name residing at that time in 
Newark. He was m the Commissariat. Ah ! an uncle. Well, I 
can tell you something about him in relation to the sui'render of 
this territory. In 1797, the year after the evacuation, I -^^as sent 
down by my father to Newark, on a mission of which I was proud. 
I was only 17 years old then. It appears that Governor Simcoe, 
who had built Fort Miami, and had defrayed the expenses out of 
the Mihtary chest, had further resolved that the expenditure should 
be refunded from the revenue of the Province, and I was sent down 
with an order on Peter Russell, President of the Council, for the 
amount. Mr. Russell honoured the order and gave me the money, 
which I handed over to the Imperial Officer, Commissary James 
Coffin, and took his receipt. We became great friends in after 
years. 



198 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

" I cannot say whether the Province actually paid the money or 
not. The revenue was very small then. The amount paid over 
was somewhat about .£4,000 specie, sealed up in canvas bags. 
Lord Dorchester and General Simcoe might have had to raise the 
money themselves— Simcoe had left the Province. All I do know 
is, that the money was refunded to the Imperial Treasury. If 
Canada paid for Fort Miami, it was given up without much regard 
to her interests. I don't know that she paid in like manner for any 
other places surrendered on the frontier. 

" I was here in 1812. I was myself a commissary to the forces ; 
and, in those days, to feed a force, and provide in advance for Ihe 
supply, was an arduous task : of course our main dependence was 
on the regular line of supply from Montreal. The troops, and the 
Indians, too, were supplied from our stores. The chief rations then 
consisted of Irish mess pork ; but pigs had begun to be plentiful ; 
and, when our communications were interrupted, I contrived to 
supply the deficiency from the farms which were springing up over 
the country, with most of which I was familiar. While I had 
charge, the troops never wanted, though they had often but little 
to spare. 

" Before the war broke out — I think early in June, 1812 — Brock 
paid us a flying visit. He was then Governor, during the absence 
of Governor Gore. When at Fort Maiden, the Indians asked Brock 
for powder and guns, to go back into INIichigan, and get back their 
lands. The General told them, that to give them ammunition, 
would be to make war on the United States ; ' but,' said he, ' I 
am very sure that they Avill make Avar upon us before long. So 
wait a bit, and you shall have all you want ;' ' but,' added he 
very solemnly, ' if I supply you, you must abstain from scalpmg 
the dead, and ill-treating your prisoners. Promise me that, and 
then you shall have all you want.' They did promise. Colonel 
Elliott, the Indian interpreter, was present, and translated. 



FIRST SCALP — ^' PEOMISE WIPED OUT." 199 

" You would like to know how that promise was kept. I can tell 
you something about that, too. When Hull crossed at Sandwich, 
12th Julj, 1812, he despatched scouting parties to the Canard 
River, only seven miles from Fort Maiden, under Cass, and one 
McCulloch, a Kentucky man.* They encountered at the Canard 
Bridge an Indian scouting party of fifteen warriors and two squaws. 
The Indians opened fire on the Americans, who fell back. One of 
them crossed the river, fool-hardily, and was shot. McCulloch 
scalped him, and the body was abused by those with him. 

" McCulloch bared his arm, and attached the trophy to his left 
elbow, a way they have of drying such things. On his way back he 
stopped at the Park farm, near Sandwich, and asked Widow Park 
for a drink of water. She observed what hung from his elbow, and 
remarked on it. ' Yes,' said he, ' it is the scalp of a d — d red- 
skin we killed below there.' ' I am sorry for it,' said she ; ' the 
Indians would not have done the like. I guess you'll sufifer for 
this.' 

" And so they did. When the Americans retired, the Indians 
went over and found the body of their comrade, scalped, and his 
skull beat in. They Avrapped it in a blanket, and bore it back to 
Fort Maiden, went right to the door of Colonel St. George, the 
commandant, and laid it down at the threshold. They called out 
the Colonel. ' Look !' said they, ' our great father not long ago 
told us not to scalp, not to kill. Look at our brother ; the long 
knives not only scalped him, but killed him over again. Look at 
his skull ! Our promise is wiped out.' 

" This was but the begimiing — more by and by. But in a day or 
two the Americans came back to the river Canard — the Ta-ron-tee, 



* McCulloch (Captain McCulloch) was, it is to be presumed, the person killed 
by the Indians, at the head of a scouting party, in the subsequent affair of 
"Van Home. Vide James I. p 62. 



200 CHRONICLE OP THE WAR. 

as the Indians call it, — which by this time was better protected, by 
more Indians and a small party of the 41st. Again they had a 
fight, and were again repulsed. A fine fellow of the 41st lost his 
life here.* He was advanced sentry in the plain on the other side 
of the river. They came upon him suddenly, and called to him to 
throw down his arms, and surrender. He replied that he was there 
to defend his post, and fired, killing one man. They fired, too, and 
mortally wounded him, and, on their retreat, left him to die in a 
shed. He died, and was found, scalped, and the Americans were 
at first accused of the deed ; but that was soon proved to be wrong. 
It turned out that one Main-poche, an Indian of ours, had stealthily 
followed the Americans in hopes of picking up a scalp, in revenge 
for the act of a few days before. He did not succeed ; but on his 
return, alighting upon the dead body of the soldier, he thought that 
any scalp was better than none. He brought it in, and, both from 
the colour and cut of the hair, was detected at once by the com- 
rades of the dead man, who gave him a good thrashing for his 
pains. 

" We heard of the declaration of war on the 28th June, 1812. 
Brock sent up the news from York. He had arranged before 
with Proctor, to go over and take Detroit, at the first outbreak of 
war. Hull had not yet reached this post, but Avas on the way with 
reinforcements from Ohio. On the 2nd of July all arrangements 
were made, and we were on the point of starting, wdien, below 
Bois Blanc Island, on the Canada shore, appeared a fleet of boats. 
We made up our minds at once that it was the Americans coming 
to attack us, and manned our works. It was all a false alarm. It 
turned out to be a brigade of trading boats and canoes from Mon- 
treal to Macinaw. Next day orders came from Prevost to make 
no oflfensive movements, and notliing more was done. 

Vide p. 42 ante. 



CAYUGA PACKET TAKEN — PLUCKY ROLETTE. 201 

"But upon this day, the 3rd, a gallant feat was performed by 
Lieut. Rolette, a plucky little French Canadian from Quebec. He 
was Lieutenant in the Provincial Marine. He was out in a boat 
with eight men, when he saw a vessel approach under American 
colours He went right alongside, and boarded, and found himself, 
among American uniforms. Without a word, he put a sentry on 
the arm-chest, one on the companion ladder, and one at the wheel, 
and then gave loud orders to shoot any man resisting. The Ameri- 
cans knew nothing of the declaration of war. Independent of the crew 
there was on board a guard of thirty-three soldiers. Shortly recover- 
ing from their surprise, the Americans, remarking the number, began 
to cast ugly glances on their captors; but it so chanced that the 
vessel was close off a windmill on the Canada shore, around which 
had been thrown up a breastwork of logs, which gave it a military 
look. Rolette, with presence of mind, ordered the helmsman, in 
loud tones, to put the vessel under the guns of the battery. This 
had its effect for the moment. Fortunately a batteau came down 
the river at this time, with men and an officer, and enabled him to 
secure the prize. She proved to be the Cayuga Packet, containing 
Hull's military chest, extra baggage, military and medical stores, 
and aU the correspondence of the army. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Squire Keynold's narrative — Arrival of Brock— Interview with Tecumseh— Affairs on the 
Frontier 1813— Ball at Maiden— From the dance to the field- Colonel St. George 
— Attack on French Town — Capture of General Winchester — Retreat of Troctor — 
Wounded abandoned — Rolette hit — Browastowu and the scalps — Fort Meigs — British 
engineers— Colonel Gratiot— Major Reynolds at the Raisin— Defeat of Green Clay— Reta- 
liation of the Indians — Retreat from Fort Meigs— Council of war — Recriminations — 
Proctor, Elliott, Tecumseh — Proctor's treatment of the Militia — Second attack on Fort 
Meigs — A failure — Fort Stevenson attacked — Bravely defended by Major Croghan — 
Col. Short killed — Stormers repulsed — Proctor retires — Barclay at Maiden — Efforts to 
equip squadron — No men nor material— The two 24's— Calibre and character of guns 
in the squadrons respectively. 

" This exploit of Rolette's was of great value to Brock when he 
arrived on the 13th of August. I was with Col. ElUott, Superin- 
tendent of Indians, when news came that a boat had reached the 
beach with officers on board. Tecumseh was m the room. Elliott 
got up and spoke to Tecumseh in Shawanee, and we Avcnt dawn 
together to the water-edge. We found the General and others 
disembarking. Among the first was John Beverley Robinson, and 
a lot of York volunteers. We were told more wanted to come than 
the General could bring ; and he put them oflf by saying that he 
wanted some to remain to defend York. 

." Tecumseh was presented to Brock. I observed him looking nar- 
rowly at the General. On our way back to the house, he remarked 
to Elliott that the General was a brave man, deserving of all confi- 
dence. 

"And now, with respect to the occurrences on this frontier in the 
spring and summer of 1813. I Avas present at tlicm all. The 
troops could not move without the Commissary ; and I am proud to 



BALL AT AMHERSTBURG — INTERRUPTED FESTIVITIES. 203 

feel that whatever was left to me was done satisfactorily. A little 
of the early fighiing, when told, explains the rest. 

" On the 18th Jan., 1813, being the anniversary of old Queen 
Charlotte's birthday, all the young fellows on the coast side — lesjeunes 
gens de la cdte — combined with the military to give a ball. We had 
assembled at Mrs. Draper's Tavern, here in Amherstburg, and the lads 
and lasses were full of dance and fun, Avhen in walked Colonel St . George 
equipped for the field. " My boys," said he, in a loud voice, " you 
must prepare to dance to a different tune ; the enemy is upon us, 
and we are going to surprise them. We shall take the route about 
four in the morning, so get ready at once." Of course there was 
some confusion and surprise, but I believe the fellows liked the 
fighting as much as the dancmg. The ball broke up at once, and 
every man was at his appointed post at the proper time. It had 
been very cold, but no snow had fallen. The river had taken 
across, and we started for Brownstown, four miles distant, on the 
ice. It was not considered strong enough to bear more than smaU 
4-pounders. The men marched in extended order. 

" It appears that the General had got intelHgence that General 
Winchester was advancing rapidly to attack Fort Maiden or De- 
troit, and had resolved to anticipate him. The American Generals, 
Winchester and Harrison, were at loggerheads. Winchester, an 
old revolutionary officer, did not hke to be superseded by Harrison, 
and aimed at a great blow, on his own account, before the other 
could come up to share the glory. We took the wind out of his 
sails most completely. It was just dawn of day when our columns 
got out of the forest on an open space in front of the house of a 
Canadian named Jerome, Avhich the Americans had stockaded. 
The place was called French Town, on the River Raisin. The 
Americans must have arrived on the ground the night before. The 
stockaded house was quite insufficient to receive them. Part were 
encamped or bivouacked on the outside. As we got out of the 



204 . CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

wood, the reveille was beating inside the stockade, and it seemed 
as if the advanced sentry was attracted by the rattle of the drums, 
for he did not perceive us, in the mist of the morning, until they 
had ceased. Then he heard the rumble of the gun-carriages, and 
turned and fired, and hit Gates, the leading grenadier of the 41st, 
right through the head. The ball went in at one ear and out at 
the other. Our people deployed rapidly to the right and left, in 
the open, and commenced to fire. Proctor made a strange dispo- 
sition of his line. He put a gun on each flank, and advanced one 
gun in front of the centre, so that every ball of the enemy, 
which missed the gun, struck the men in the rear, and some 
of our own musketry hit the gunners. I'll tell you a story about 
this presently. In the mean time the fire from ovir line was so 
heavy, that it drove the enemy who were outside the stockade 
down the bank on to the frozen stream below, and into the woods 
beyond, where numbers were killed by the Indians. The stockaded 
house stiU held out, when, to our surprise, General Winchester was 
brought in a prisoner. He had slept away from his men at the 
house of a Frenchman named Lasalle, about two miles ofi", and, 
aroused by the firing, had mounted his horse, and was riding 
down in haste, when he was intercepted by a drunken Indian, 
known by the soubriquet of Brandy Jack.* His captor had 
despoiled the poor General of his cocked hat, coat and epaulets, 
and had donned these insignia of rank, and cut a most ludicrous 
figure with his vermilion cheeks and painted face and pompous aspect. 
The General, in his shirt-sleeves, on a bitter cold morning, was in a 
sad plight. Brandy Jack described how the General had fired his 
small gun (pistol) at him — ' no good,' — and gave the captive of hia 
rifle to Proctor, who received him with aU kindness. The transition 

• James and Christie attribute the capture of Winchester to Round Head a 
Wyandot chief. He may also have enjoyed the soubriquet of " Brandy Jack 
but the squire maintains the latter denomination to bo the true one. 



CAPTURE OP GENERAL WINCHESTER — ROLETTE AGAIN. 205 

from peril of instant death to assured safety warmed the heart of 
General Winchester. He felt, at once that, the British were not the 
monsters they were painted, and he offered to surrender the stockaded 
house and garrison, if promised quarter. The promise was, of course, 
made, and the garrison laid down their arms. This led to a catas- 
trophe which was deeply deplored by us all. 

" But I promised you a story about Rolette. He came up to me 
on the ice, and said he was very sick — that he had a racking head- 
ache. I recommended him to return. The brave little Frenchman 
turned upon me as if I had insulted him. He was detailed to take 
charge of a gun, he said ; to go back would be eternal disgrace. 
' Look here,' said he, producing a heavy Bandana handkerchief, 
' tie this tight round my head.' I rolled it up thick, and did so. 
' I am better already,' he remarked, and pushed on. After the 
action he came to me. ' That handkerchief,' said he, ' saved my 
life ; look here ; ' and in the folds of the handkerchief was a musket- 
ball, which had partly cut through the silk, and had flattened, one 
side of it, on his skull. That cranium of his must have been sub- 
stantial. It was all swollen and blackened where the ball had 
struck. He was in front of our line in the centre, and had been 
wounded by our own men. Irvine, of the navy, a Lieutenant, who 
commanded the other gun, was also wounded in the heel. 

" I have spoken of the catastrophe. I will tell you, now, how that 
came about. Scarcely had the prisoners surrendered, and been 
marched off to the rear, when news came that General Harrison 
was only eight miles distant, and was rapidly advancing with large 
reinforcements. Proctor got alarmed, and ordered a retreat. This 
was all right, but there was no need to hurry about it. The pris- 
oners and many of the wounded were removed safely ; but some of 
the wounded, too much hurt to be moved, were left in the stockaded 
house, where there was also a store of liquors. The Indians — not 
Tecumseh's people, but Indians of the Lake, under Dickson — 



206 CHRONICLE or THE WAR. 

prowlers and plunderers, who, it is believed, did not fight at alt, 
got at the liquor, and, when mad with drink, assailed the prisoners. 
The guard was insufficient. It is feared that some of the wounded 
were murdered, too. It was a sad affair, and caused intense feel- 
ing in our camp. Proctor was greatly blamed by us, though he 
was made Major-General, and got the thanks of the Lower Canadian 
Parhament. He need not have retired so precipitately. Why, he 
left his own dead and wounded, including Colonel St. George, hit 
in three places. 

" I had under my order at this time a number of sleighs and drivers 
for the commissariat transport, and I had taken possession of a 
Frenchman's house at Stoney Creek Landing, and used it for a dep6t. 
When Proctor retired with his men, it was reported that the wounded 
had been left behind. We discharged the sleighs there and returned, 
bringing down from eighty to a hundred wounded and twenty-three 
corpses. The wounded were made as comfortable as possible on 
straw spread on the floor of the Frenchman's house. The dead 
were conveyed to Amherstburg, and buried, all in one pit, here in 
the church-yard ; I can show you the place. I found poor Col. St. 
George, a brave old officer, who had been sent out from England t(J 
instruct the militia, lying where he fell, badly hurt. I brought him 
back in his own sleigh, having knocked the seat out, and filled it in with 
straw. He would have died else ; as it was, he did not get off his 
bed before July. The Americans followed us from French Town to 
Brownstown, an Indian village, at a cautious distance, it is true; 
for we never saw any of them. But they boasted that the 'heroes 
of Brownstown returned, bringing on their bayonets the scalps of 
their enemies as trophies of war.'* This was published and printed ; 



♦ Jamos quotes a paragraph from the National Intelligencer, the Amer- 
ican Goverument paper of that day, which stated that " when the Americans 
returned to Detroit from the battle of Brownstown, they bore triumphantly on 



FORT MEIGS — BRITISH ENGINEERS — COL. GRATIOT. 207 

but it is not added whether the scalps were those of the wounded, 
or of the Indians, or of their own people. It is believed that with 
them a scalp was a scalp, from whatever skull it came, and that 
it was a cute Yankee trick to carry off the spoil, and credit the 
Indians with the act. 

" The next affair in the campaign was that of Fort Meigs, on the 
Miami, which occurred in the month of April, 1813. General 
Harrison, after the capture of Winchester, occupied himself in 
strengthening Fort Meigs, as a depot and starting point for future 
attacks on Detroit. It is about 40 miles distance. Proctor deter- 
mined to beat up his quarters, and sent for my brother, Major Rey- 
nolds, of the 2d Essex. My brother was highly praised by Proctor 
in his despatch of the 26th Jan., for his conduct at French Town. 
Proctor asked if he could depend on the services of the militia. 
The answer was, that, for a few days and prompt action, undoubt- 
edly ; but that at that period of the season, longer delay would 
destroy all hope of crops, and bring starvation on the settlement 
and the troops. Proctor despatched, at the same time, two British 
engineers, disguised in Canadian costume, grey capots and sashes, 
to inspect the ground on the British side of the Miami, opposite to 
Fort Meigs. These gentlemen were so imprudent as actually to 
stake out the ground where they proposed to erect the British bat- 
teries. There happened to be then in the American service a Swiss 
colonel named Gratiot, a very clever engineer, and he chanced to 
be at Fort Meigs. He detected at once the meaning of the stakes 
on the opposite shore of the Miami ; and, before the British got 
down, he had run out an epaulement, or some such sort of thing, 



the points of their bayonets between 30 and 40 fresh scalps, which they had 
taken on the field." James, I, p. 66. But this evidently bore reference to 
Muir's affair at Maguagua, 12th August, 1812. Still, " scalps are scalps,' 
whether taken in 1812 or 1813. 



^08 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

with a brass eigliteen-pounder behind it, and our people were caught 
in their own trap. 

"After Hull's surrender, my brother had been sent with two com- 
panies of militia, about 100 men, mostly French Canadians of the 
Cote, to occupy French Town, on the Raism. He was backed by 
some Indians — how many can hardly be said, they were so uncer- 
tain, — one day, 20 ; the next, 100 ; the next, 50 ; the next, none at 
all. One Colonel Lewis, with about 700 American regular troops, 
attacked him there. Our people fought most bravely, retired slowly 
from log to log, from morning till night. When night came, the 
Americans thought better of it, and gave up the pursuit, returning 
to the quarters our people had occupied at French Town. This 
affair was the subject of Proctor's despatch of the 26th Jan. 

" Proctor embarked at Amherstburg,here, on the 23rd April, with 
a considerable force, convoyed by gun-boats.* He took with him two 
long 21-pounders, to arm the work his engineers had planned against 
Fort Meigs. It took some time to get into position, and then the 18- 
pounder began to show its teeth. It commanded our guns, and was 
well served and aimed. It soon dismounted one of the 24's, and dis- 
abled the other, killing a fine boy of the Newfoundlanders, who was 
serving the vent. Still our people were not to be beaten that way. 
They got things right at last, when Harrison planned a sortie under 
MiUer, aided by an attack from without. A reinforcement of 1200 
Kentuckians, under General Green Clay, was within striking dis- 
tance. Clay came down the river, crossed to the British side, and, 
aided l)y Miller's vigorous sortie, drove our people out of the battery 
upon their reserves, who were in camp further down the stream. 
The Americans followed in confusion. Our people raUied upon 



• Force 23d April, 1813.— Regulars 520 

" << " " Militia 4G0 

" " " " ludians 1500—2480 



DEATH OF LAURENT BONDY — INDIAN EXCESSES. 209 

their own advanced rear, consisting of 300 militia, who opened fire 
at once, and then charged with a cheer, which brought up the 
regulars stUl further in the rear. Reynolds and Capt. Laurent 
Bondy, of the C6te, led up to the muzzles of the American rifles 
which, once fired, are no match for the bayonet. Bondy was shot 
through the body, and fell against a tree. ' Don't stop for me,' 

he said, to some of the men who paused. ' Don't mind me I'm 

done for. Do for those fellows.' And they did.* 

" The Kentucky men ran, the sortie was repulsed, the battery re- 
captured, a large number of prisoners was taken, and again occurred 
some of the same scenes which had caused so much horror at 
French Town. The Indians of different tribes, scattered thi-ough 
the woods, were beyond control ; they overpowered the escort. One 
man, Russell, of the 41st, was slain in defending ' his charge. 
Tecumseh rushed up, and drove his tomahawk into the skull of a 
truculent ruffian who would not hold his hand. Some of the prisoners 
were murdered, and among them Colonel Dudley, the second in 
command. I call it murder, because I won't call murder by any 
other name. There is no doubt tho^e Indians were shocking imple- 
ments of war, though perhaps not much worse than bomb shells or 
Greek fire, and why could not the Yankees leave the devils alone ? 
Who scalped the red skin at the Ta-ron-tee ?t The Indians were 
fighting for their lands, and avenging their own wrongs. If you 



• 5th May, 1813. 

t James, in hisMilitary Occurrences, Vol. I, p. 62, gives the following version 
of the same occurrence : " In the pocket of Captain McCulloch of the American 
army, killed in this affair (Tecumseh and Van Home) with the Indians, was 
found a letter addressed to his wife, in which this humane individual states 
that on the 15th July he had killed an Indian, and had the pleasure of tearing 
the scalp from the head of the savage with his teeth." That the Indian was 
scalped is an undoubted fact. We may be allowed to question the operation 
in dental surgery. 





210 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

want the skin of a mid cat, you must take the scratching. We did 
all we could to stop the Indians. We gave five dollars for every 
prisoner brought in. Hundreds were brought in, and paid for by 
the Commissaries. I have paid numbers of such certificates myself. 
" Another word on these scalping stories. They have been the 
stock in trade of American writers ever suice the war, only they 
grow a little as they get on. Have these people forgotten the 
' heroes of Brownstown, with the scalps on their bayonets,' borne 
home in triumph ? Now if the boast was true, where did the scalps 
come from ? Not from our dead, for I removed them all myself. 
Not from our wounded, for I helped to remove most of them, and 
know that none were left. Did they scalp their own dead ? or did 
they scalp the Indians ? If they scalped the Indians, what right 
have they to complain that the Indians scalped them ? 

" But the defeat of Green Clay had no effect on the place, which 
still held out. Proctor opened fire from his 24's, and Gratiot gave 
him shot for shot. We were getting back to the old slow work, and 
I knew that the supphes were rimning short. I despatched orders 
for more, and got them, but we wanted ' push.' Proctor did not go at 
it in a way to satisfy any one. At last he dismoimted his guns, 
put them on sleds, and let them down the steep bank under the fire 
of the enemy. It was done, by the men, as if on parade, but it was 
clear that a retreat was mtended, and all began to talk. Tecumseh, 
through Colonel Elliott, demanded a council. It was held. I was 
present, but came in after Proctor had spoken. Tecumseh was up, 
calm, cool, deliberate, thinkmg in look, very hard in what he said. 
EUiott translated. ' Our father has brought us here to take the fort, 
why don't we take it ? If his children can't do it, give us spades, 
and we will work like beavers ; we'll eat a way in for him.' Other 
and harder words followed, until suddenly Proctor, in a passion, 
turned on Elliott with, ' Sir, you are a traitor.' EUiott instantly, 
half drawing his sword, answered, ' Sii', you short, and 



PROCTOR AND TECUMSEH — PROCTOR AND THE MILITIA. 211 

not sweet.' Proctor put his hand on his sword-hilt. Tecumseh, 
who had sat down, Indian fashion, on his hams, and who was filling 
the pipe on his tomahawk, rose slowly, and shook the tobacco out, 
saying to Elliott, ' What does he say V ' Sit down,' says EUiott, 
putting his hand on Tecumseh's arm, " never mind what he says." 
Other officers present moved up at once, and without a word stepped 
between ; all felt it was wrong. Not long after, Elliott resigned his 
place as Indian Superintendent, and called Proctor out, but no 
meeting took place. Proctor was right ; a commander in the field 
holds his life for the safety of others; he can't toss it away for the 
fun of a personal fight. 

" Next came the militia. It has been said they deserted Proctor. 
Nothmg can be more untrue, unfair, ungenerous. Who had they 
to speak for them ? He was their mouthpiece. His despatch waa 
the only record— praise others; say nothing about them ; and the 
brave man who fought for all he loved, had nothing to look to but 
the love of those he fought for. Proctor treated the militia badly. 
When they saw his guns on skids, and knew the siege was over, they 
sent respectfully to ask leave to go home, only to put in a crop for 
the benefit of his men and their own children. He sent them home 
and disarmed them. He tried to disgrace them, but they would 
not be disgraced, because they knew they did not deserve it. Brock 
was another sort of man. He thought, and felt, and spoke for othe 
men, and other men loved him, and fought for him, and died for 
him. 

"About the middle of July, Proctor planned another attack on 
Fort Meigs . He only took with him the regulars, and a few Indians. 
He refused the services of the mihtia, and, as I before said, took 
away their arms. How much of his future ill success is to be 
credited to this piece of policy, you will see. I went with the troops 
on this second expedition to Fort Meigs.* The plan was to inveigle 



25th Julj, 1813. 



212 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

the enemy out of the fort, and to get in with them ; but they would 
not come out, and as the place could not be taken with two six- 
pounders, the British retired with all the discredit of a defeat. What 
Proctor could not do at Fort Meigs, he tried to do on a more distant 
and more defensible work on the Sandusky river, Fort Stephenson, 
defended by Major Croghan, a brave Irishman, in the United States 
army. Proctor sent Major Chambers, with a flag, to demand the 
surrender of the fort.* Croghan came out on the drawbridge of 
the ditch, and said to Chambers,—' Tell your General he may blow 
the fort to hell, but it shan't be given up by me.' He was as good 
as his word. 

" Fire was opened on the work from the six-pounders, and on the 
evening of the 2nd August, Colonel Short, of the 41st, led on the 
storming party. They rushed through the smoke, down into the 
ditch, up against the pahsades, but neither ladders nor fascines had 
been provided ; the tools they had were bad, some of the axes had 
no handles. The attempt to tear down the pahsades failed. The 
men then tried, desperately, to clamber over, and while doing so, the 
enemy opened from a concealed gun, which flanked the ditch, and 
which, charged with grape, did deadly execution. Lieut. Gordon 
and Colonel Short were both killed ; about 100 men were killed and 
wounded, and the recall was sounded. The storming party was 
brought ofl"; the Indians, who don't understand storming, covering 
the rear. The next morning Proctor left the river. 

" Croghan made a gallant defence, and deserved all praise. His 
number was under 200 men. We had 500, and about 200 Indians. 
Croghan found in the magazine many boxes of muskets, meant for 
the militia. He opened them, and provided every one of his men 
with four or five, loaded ready at liis side, so that the musketry fire 
was tremendous and incessant, and at close quarters, in open day- 



• 2nd August, 1813. 



FORT MEIGS AGAIN — CROGHAN AND FORT STEPHENSON. 213 

light, most fatal, and the masked gun did its work just in the nick 
of time. 

" WhUe these fights had been going on on the west shore of the 
Detroit, we had been preparing at Amherstburg for a contest on the 
lake, which we knew must determine who should be master on the 
western frontier. It was supremacy on this lake, or starvation. 
The party who held the lake cut off all means of supply from the 
other, and the more the mouths, the greater the danger. Now, 
the British had to feed the Indians, and their whole famihes, as well 
as their own people, and from the absence of the mihtia, no crop 
had been put in. 

" Since June, Captain Barclay, of the Royal Navy, had been hard 
at work, fitting out his small squadron. We had a good harbor 
and dockyard between Bois Blanc Island and Fort Maiden. We 
were preparing the Detroit, the Queen Charlotte, and other smaller 
vessels, but Barclay had neither guns, nor men, nor marine stores. 
The guns from the fort were put on board of the Detroit. I heard 
Captain Finnis ask Proctor to let him have two 24-pounders, the 
same that had been withdrawn from before Fort Meigs. Proctor 
said he must keep them to cover his retreat, should it take place 
' General,' said Finnis, ' if we are lost, you are gone. Give me 
the guns, and, mayhap, you won't have to retreat at all." Finnis 
was right ; the guns might have saved all. As it was, they were 
taken without a shot fired, at Dalson's farm. Poor Finnis, who was 
a brave officer, was killed at the second broadside. The same ball 
killed Garden, of the Newfoundlanders, acting as marines, another 
brave officer. I was not in the sea fight of course, but I know that 
when the ships were suppUed, our stock in store was reduced very 
low. 

" Perry's squadron were all armed with 32's and long 24's. His 
two best ships, the Lawrence and Niagara, were brigs, armed each 
with 20 32-pounder Columbiads. The best of ours had only a 



214 CHRONICLE OP THE WAR. 

motley complement of 24's, 16's, and 12's ; one brig, the Hunter, had 
10, 4-pounders. The men told me that when engaged with the 
American schooners, their 32's crashed through her ; while, in return, 
our balls stuck in the side of the American, like currants in a 
pudding." 



CHAPTER XX. 

Captain Barclay and Commodore Perry— Resources of each— Perry's diflSculty- Crosses the 
bar at Presqu'Isle— Description of Barclay's crew and armament — 10th September — 
Battle of Lake Erie— Desperate contest — The Lawrence surrenders — Perry's personal 
exploit— Changes his ships — Renews the contest — The British squadron captured — 
OflScers all killed or wounded— The resistance of Barclay and his crews— Barclay's 
heroic character and conduct — Appearance before a Court martial — Honourably acquit- 
ted — Barclay's defeat, Proctor's doom— Position of Proctor — Nature of country— Sup- 
plies exhausted — Alternative of retreat or surrender — Retreats— Line of march — Diffi- 
culties—Followed by Harrison — Kentucky Mounted Riflemen — Tactics in the battle — 
Character of forest— Not impracticable to horsemen. 

"We take leave of Squire Reynolds, and his store of incidents, at 
the time of this great disaster. While Barclay had been occupied 
at Amherstburg, Commodore Perry had been equally busy at the 
port of Presqu'Isle, in Pennsylvania, on Lake Erie. He had the 
great advantage of being near to his supplies, and abounding in 
them. From the sea-board he had received excellent crews. Mili- 
tary and marine stores had been furnished to him at great cost and 
trouble, but neither cost nor trouble could supply Captain Barclay. 

For some time Perry labored under this disadvantage : Presqu'Isle 
was a bar harbour, across which he could not take his ships with 
their guns on board. In consequence, Barclay lay off the harbour, 
and, with a very inferior force, kept him at bay. He could not 
venture into deep water in disarmed ships, but a gale at last drove 
Barclay away. Perry shpped out, took his guns on board from 
Hghters, and was, from that moment, master of the lake. Not, how- 
ever, without a desperate struggle. Barclay retired to Maiden, 
and pushed on his preparations. The Detroit was fitted for sea 



216 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

with guns of all calibres. Fifty able bodied seamen came up from 
Kingston, and were divided among the five vessels of the squadron, 
the remainder of the crews was composed of Canadian lake seamen, 
some of the amphibious Newfoundlanders, and marines from the 
41st foot.* 

At length, when, as Barclay writes,! " there was not a day's flour 
in the store, and the squadron was on half-allowance of many 
things," and " it was necessary to fight the enemy to enable us to 
get supplies of every description," the British squadron took to the 
lake. The distance from Maiden to Put-in-Bay, where the Ameri- 
can fleet lay at anchor, was about sixty miles. On the morning of 
the 10th September, 1813, at sunrise, the two squadrons sighted 
each other, and prepared both for the battle. At a quarter before 
twelve, noon, the British, having the advantage of the wind, com- 
menced the action. Barclay, in the Detroit, engaged the Lawrence, 
Commodore Perry ; and for two hours the battle raged. The 
La^vrence was utterly disabled, and reduced to an unmanageable 
hulk. At this critical moment Perry did a daring feat. He left 

♦ENGLISH FLEET. AMERICAN FLEET. 

Detroit, 19 Lawrence 20 

Queen Charlotte, 17 Niagara, 20 

Lady Provost, 13 Caledonia, 3 

Hunter, 10 Ariel, 4 

Chippewa, 1 Trlppe, 1 

Little Belt, 3 Tigress, 1 

— Somers, 2 

63 Scorpion, 2 

Ohio 1 

Porcupine, 1 

55 

"Weight of metal : British, 459Ib3. American, 9281bs. 

Number of men, 345 Number of men,. ...680 

t Barclay's Despatch : — Put-in-Bay, Lake Erie, 22nd September, 1813. 



BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE — BARCLAY'S DEFEAT. 217 

the Lawrence in a small boat, and, passing through the midst of the 
fire, gained the deck of his consort, the Niagara, and re-hoisted his 
flag. The Niagara was uninjured. Before, however, he could 
take part in the fight, the Lawrence struck her flag to Barclay. 
Then came a reverse. The wind had changed, and gave Perry the 
advantage. The Niagara bore up, and passed through the British 
line, engaging the Detroit and Queen Charlotte. The Detroit had 
been severely handled in her contest with the Lawrence, and had 
become since a special object for the raking attentions of the gun- 
boats. Fiunis, of the Queen Charlotte, had been kiUed early in the 
action ; his first Lieutenant, Stokoe, had been struck senseless by a 
sphnter. Irvine, of the Provincial Navy, who succeeded, with 
equal courage, may not have had the experience of these officers. 
He either fell on board of the Detroit, or the Detroit fell on board 
of him. Garland, first Lieutenant of the Detroit, was mortally 
wounded, and Barclay himself was at last shot down, and compelled 
to leave the deck. At this moment Lieut. Buchan, who commanded 
the Lady Prevost, and Lieut. Bignall, who commanded the Hunter, 
were both wounded. " Every officer, in fact, commanding vessels, 
and their seconds, were either killed, or wounded so severely as to 
be unable to keep the deck. Never in any action was the loss more 
severe."* 

In this condition, without officers to direct or men to fight — for 
the slaughter, from the superior weight of metal of the enemy, had 
been dreadful, — and so wrecked, that, in a heavy sea on the next 
day, both the Detroit and the Queen Charlotte lost their masts, — 
after four hours of desperate fighting, the whole squadron was 
compelled to surrender. 

Writers more addicted to sound than sense, have thought fit to 
ascribe their misfortunes to the " mixed crew of Canadians and 

• Barclay's Letter: — Put-in-Bay, Lake Erie, Sept. 22Dd, 1813. 



218 CHRONICLE OP THE WAR. 

soldiers " who manned the British squadron. Barclay might well 
be proud of the " Canadians and soldiers," who, mth vessels 
ill-fitted and half-armed, with guns of all calibres, and insufficient 
ammunition, had enabled him for five hours to maintain this unequal 
contest ; who had compelled the Lawrence to strike her colours, 
and who yielded at last to nearly double strength of men, and 
more than double weight of metal. It may be questioned if the 
best seamen who fought under Rodney or Colhngwood could have 
done more. 

Cooper, in his Naval History, remarks, in the right spirit of an 
American sailor : " Stress was laid at the time on the fact that a 
portion of the British crews were Provincials ; but the liistory of 
this continent is filled with instances m which men of that character 
have gained battles, which went to increase the renown of the 
mother country, without obtaining any credit for it. Tlie hardy 
frontier-men of the American lakes are as able to endure fatierue, 
as ready to engage, and as constant in battle, as the seamen of any 
marine in the world. They merely require good leaders, and 
these the English appear to have possessed in Captain Barclay and 
his assistants." 

Barclay was the type of a British sailor. He had served under 
Nelson. He was noted for personal courage, and for that moral 
courage which, at the call of duty, defies despair. He was one of 
those sea-dogs which looses its hold only in death. He expected 
more from human nature than could be found in any other nature 
than his own. Defeat disturbed a temper which death could not 
daunt. His despatch on this occasion does not do justice to the 
brave men who stood by liim so truly. 

Some months afterwards, he tottered before a court-martial, like 
a Roman trophy — nothing but helm and hauberk. He had lost an 
ann at Traftilgar ; the other Avas rendered useless by a grape shot 
through the shoulder. He was further weakened by several severe 



COURT MARTIAL ON BARCLAY. — HONOURABLY ACQUITTED. 219 

flesh-wounds. Little wonder, that men not given to such weakness 
shed tears at the spectacle. Little wonder, that the president of the 
court, in returning his sword, told him, in a voice tremulous with 
emotion, that the conduct of himself and men had been most 
honourable to themselves and to their country. 

Barclay's disaster was a knell of doom to Proctor. The possibility 
of such a result and its consequences had not been unforeseen. 
Salvation would have been the issue of success. Barclay had 
gallantly risked his " forlorn hope " to save his friends, and had 
failed, — retreat or ruin alone remained. 

Proctor's position should be fairly understood. Winter was not 
far before him — Autumn was upon him. The forest tracks called 
roads, were, by the rains of the season, made almost impassable. 
Soon they would be impracticable. The only feasible communicar 
tion, that of the river and lake, was intercepted by the American 
fleet. Fort Maiden had been divested of its guns, its ammunition, 
and its spare food to supply Barclay. The garrisons on the line of 
the Detroit river could only be victualled from the scanty stores in 
hand, or be supplied from Burlington Bay. This resource was 
distant 200 miles from the nearest post. It was clearly more wise, 
and easier to march his troops to find supplies — than to bring 
supplies to find his troops,— prisoners, perhaps, in the hands of an 
enemy. But, whether for advance or for retreat, the by-paths of 
the forest, intermediate, were such as the macadamized and loco- 
motive imagination of the present day cannot encompass. A 
backwoodsman, laden with his axe, wading here, ploutering there, 
stumbling over rotted trees, protruding stumps, a bit of a half sub- 
merged corduroy road for one short space— then an adhesive clay 
bank— then a mUe, or two, or more, of black muck swamp,— may 
possibly, clay-clogged and footsore, and with much pain in the 
small of his back, find himself by sundown at the foot of a hemlock 
or cedar, with a fire at his feet, having done manfully about ten 



220 



CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 



miles for his day's work ; Apart from the fire, and the blessed rest, 
practice deducts woefully from the poetry of bush hfe. But what 
could be done by the unaccustomed soldier, from long garrison 
service, out of training, with his pack and his blanket, canteen and 
haversack, with his musket and full supply of ammunition-a weight 
calculated by Napier, at his day, to exceed sixty pounds. What 
could the best and most endui-ing man, so laden, be expected to do, 
amid the sloughs of this unmitigated wilderness. But what was 
to be done with the hnpediments-the guns, the ammunition 
waggons, the daily and reserve supplies de guerre et de houche? 
The man might carry enough to support hfe from day to day— but 
what was to provide for the morrow ? How were the women and 
children,— the rapid accumulations,— the flotsam and jetsam of a 
fluctuating force, to be conveyed away, protected and fed, for at 
least twenty marches ? And yet the alternative of ruinous retreat 
was hopeless surrender. Hull might have been exchanged on his 
own ground. 

Proctor preferred at once the wiser part-rapidly he called 
in his outposts on either side of the river Detroit ; he dismantled 
Maiden, Windsor, Sandwich, destroyed such stores as could not 
usefully be removed,-and then, having destroyed all public build- 
ings, in the fort at Detroit, and transported all the guns across the 
river to the Canadian side at Windsor, he commenced his retreat 
upon Burlington Heights. It was deliberately organized and judi- 
ciously planned. The retreat being necessary, it was presumed 
that the Americans would not follow the British and their Indian 
allies far into the depths of the forest. A protracted advance would 
equalize the difficulties of either party— the American, removed from 
his base of supply, would certainly not find in the track of his 
adversary, improved means of transportation. So Proctor collected 
his people at Windsor; sent oflf his heavy baggage, reserve supplies, 
women and children, in advance, and on the 28th Sept. finally rehn- 



RETREAT OF PROCTOR — PURSUIT BY HARRISON. 221 

quished Detroit, and fell back upon British territory. His route 
was well chosen to assist him as far as possible into the interior. 

On Lake St. Clair, thirty miles due East of Detroit, is the em- 
bouchure of the Thames, emulous in its turbid tide alone, of its 
British prototype. It is navigable for small vessels, some seventy 
or eighty miles on the line of the proposed retreat. The road, such 
as it was, followed the North shore of the sinuous and sluggish 
stream, at places on the bank, at others, and where " cutting off 
bends " at some distance from the river. The direction of the 
stream, ascending, of the line of road, and of the hne of retreat, 
were generally the same, due East. The boats having been 
despatched with the impedimenta, the troops following, covered the 
advanced retreat. The force at this time, with Proctor, consisted 
of about 830 men, including the 41st Regt., about 540 strong. 
The residue consisted of men of the Royal Newfoundland regiment 
and militia. Tecumseh, the Shawanee Chief, with 500 warriors, and 
the invariable incumbrance on the Indian war path, a large number 
of squaws and papooses, all of whom had to be fed by the British 
commander. 

The American force under Gen. Harrison, which had been thrown 
on the Canadian shore of the river Detroit, amounted to 5,000 men. 
Deductions having been made for the occupation of Maiden, 
Windsor, and the Fort at Detroit, had left a force at Harrison's 
disposal of 3,500 men, of whom 1,500 were Kentucky Mounted 
Riflemen, of whom this officer says in his despatch to his own 
government, " the American backwoodsmen ride better in the 
woods than any other people,— a musket or rifle is no impediment, 
they being accustomed to carry them on horseback from their 
earliest youth."* It is well known, too, to those who have had any 
experience in the bush, that horses used to this work, acquire an 

• Despatch : — Detroit, 9th October, 1863. 



^ 



222 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

instinctive facility for dodging difficulties and surmounting obstacles, 
—they become singularly sure-footed and steady ; however deep 
they may plunge, they rarely stumble. Horses so trained, thread 
the mazes of the forest at a rapid walk, and can only be checked 
by a wind-fall or black swamp. 

It is also worthy of remark, that the whole of this part of Canada 
is a rich alluvial deposit reclaimed in the course of ages from Lake 
St. Clair. The forests are of prodigious size. Here is found in 
luxuriant growth, — six feet in diameter at the base, — the noble black 
walnut, now so favourably known for purposes of domestic ornament 
and use ; and here the wild turkey, weighing from 20 to 30 lbs., 
displays in large flocks, its lustrous plumage, rich with metallic tints, 
and frights the soHtude with its unearthly gobblings. These noble 
overtowering trees intercept the light, and to a great extent destroy 
the undergrowth— between the huge trunks the space is clear ; you 
may ride between them as freely as through the aisles of a Gothic 
Cathedral. The trees which would neutralize and disturb the regular 
formation of infantry, offer but little impediment to a bold irreg- 
ular cavalry, each horseman fighting " on his own hook." 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Proctor falls back to Baptiste Creek— General Harrison with Perry's assistance follows — 
5tli October— British force halts at Dalson's Farm — Colonel Maclean of Scarborough — 
His reminiscences — Warburton in command at Dalson's— Proctor retires personally to 
Moravian Town— Koused before daylight — Intelligence— Troops attacked and retreating 
— Warburton followed by Shelby and Kentucky riflemen— Description of these troops 
and mode of attack— Proctor halts his men— Nature of ground and position— Tecumseh 
—His last words— No abattis made— American attack— Defeat and surrender of the 
British. 

Proctor had drawn off on the 28th of September. His baggage- 
waggons and store-boats had been sent on in advance. Many 
of his men had already marched 18 miles through a country deep 
as the worst marsh in Holland. They fell back leisurely for about 
30 miles to Baptiste Creek, near the mouth of the Thames. They 
crossed on a bridge which, when passed, was most unaccountably 
left by the troops undestroyed. They then took up their line of 
march on the north shore of the Thames. They still covered the 
rear of their boats and convoys. 

From the Bridge to Dalson's farm, near where the town of 
Chatham now stands, was a distance of about 16 miles. Dalson's 
was a small clearing, one of those scattered Oases which were 
then found, at long intervals, in the wilderness. Here, the uninter- 
rupted level was broken by a rising ground, probably pitched upon 
by the pioneer and bush ranger, as possessing the recommendation 
of dryness. 

Here, upon the 5th of Oct., Proctor had halted with his whole 
force. He had been retarded by the state of the roads, and by 
the necessity of not leaving in the rear, supply-boats — delayed by 



224 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

the tortuous course of the river— by mud banks, and all the obstruc- 
tions which accident heaps upon ill-fortune. The rains, though 
sufficient to destroy the roads, were insufficient to swell the river. 

Harrison followed by the same route, supported by Commo- 
dore Perry, with three gun-boats, and a flotilla of smaller craft — 
manned from the American fleet, buoyant with success. The re- 
tiring army, laden with an unnecessary amount of baggage, and 
weighed down by moral depression, was pursued by lusty arms 
and light hearts, in boats lighter and more swift, from the smaller 
requirements of an army in pursuit. 

It is embarrassing to encounter, at this point, the conflicting and 
angry statements, and harsh comments on the ensuing events. — 
Happily, however, at this moment of deep and painful embarrass- 
ment, there has come to our aid a living eye-witness of these 
events, whose opportunities and whose fidelity are beyond cavil. 

In the township of Scarborough, and within a few miles of 
Toronto, still lives Colonel Maclean, who was a lieutenant in the 
41st, at the battle of the Thames. He was on the staff of General 
Proctor. He is a son of the brave Clerk of the Legislative 
Assembly, who, as a volunteer in the ranks, had fallen by the side 
of McNeil, at York. He had obtained a commission in the 41st, 
and had seen service in all the varied affairs in Michigan, and on 
the river Detroit. He was present at the battle of the Thames. 
After the war of 1812, he served his Sovereign with his old regi- 
ment in India — before the stockades of Rangoon and Prome ; had 
occupied the temples of Ava, and had Avitnesscd the subjection of 
the Court of Ummcrapoora. At mature age, he returned to his 
paternal farm ; and under the lowly roof of one of those old- 
fashioned, wide-spread Canadian dwellings, which looks like a 
gigantic mushroom, or the wide and black expansion of an Arab 
tent, he dispenses a homely, yet frank and soldierly, hospitality, 
"which an Arab might envy. Here, on the advanced side of 70, 



COLONEL MACLEAN. — DALSON'S FARM. 225 

he presents the remains of a giant form, and an intellect which 
compels us to own, that the men of 1812 were the mastodons of 
our formation. It may seem hypercritical, but it is not less obser- 
vable, that the exuvise of a race fast passing away indicate that 
the natural development of the present generation does not equal 
that of their grandsires. 

Maclean was on Proctor's staff, saw all that one man could see, ^ 

and knew more than most around him. The story of the fight is 
given almost in his own words. Proctor, on the afternoon of the 
4th Oct., had taken up a good defensible position at Dalson's Farm, 
and had left his force under his second in command. Major War- 
burton. Proctor did not anticipate an immediate advance of the 
enemy. He knew that the difficulties of his own movements must 
still more embarrass theirs, and it was believed that the American 
commander would prefer rather to bridge the quagmires with gold, 
than plunge into them to provoke an encounter with such a foe, 
desperately at bay. 

With the heavy baggage in advance was the wife and family of 
the General. They had shared with him, for many months, in the 
hardships of a frontier campaign, and had been despatched some 
days before, with other helpless impediments to the march, in the 
direjction of the retreat. They had reached the Indian village 
known as Moravian Town, from certain missionaries of that persua- 
sion who had devoted themselves to holy labors among the savages , . , , , 
in that part of Canada. This mission was about 16 miles from _ '\^^,^ y^^ 
Dalson's Farm. The General, having made his arrangements, pro- ^ 
ceeded with his staff to Moravian Town to meet his family. Maclean 
offered to remain and watch events ; but the General, confident in 
the security of the position, smiled at the proposal, and directed his 
young Aid to accompany him. 

Before daylight they were aroused from their sleep by hui'ried 
intelligence from the front, that the enemy had reached and attacked 

p 



226 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

the position at Dalson's Farm, and that the troops were falling back. 
The rapid strides of exultant pursuit had overreached the leaden 
footsteps of unwilling retreat. An early frost had suddenly set in, 
hardening the roads and bridging the morasses, and ojBfering one of 
those chance combmations of ill-luck which persecutes the unfortu- 
nate. Thus favoured, the American Mounted Rifles had pushed 
on, and, about an hour after midnight, were in the British bivouac. 
Warburton retired at once, and was perseveringly followed by 
Harrison and his men. These men, styled by Hai-rison " mounted 
infantry," were for the most part Kentucky trappers and hunters — 
men like the leather-stocking of Cooper, inured to the wilderness, 
and between whom and the Indians there existed a constant warfare 
and chronic hatred. Hardy, daring, keen, ruthless, admirably clad 
in a leathern hunting-frock and trowsers, decorated with tasselled 
fringes, a handkerchief of red, or blue, or yellow, wrapped tightly 
around the head, with tomahawk and scalping-knifc in his belt, and 
his trusty rifle in his hand, the Kentucky pioneer presented an 
appearance as redoubtable as it was picturesque. As a cavalry 
soldier, in the European acceptation of the term, he was useless ; not 
a man among them bore a sabre ; but as scouts or vidcttes, and for 
the purpose of rapid advance or retreat, they were invaluable. The 
usual tactics of these horsemen, however, were to follow up and harass 
the retreating foe, and, dismounting from their docile steeds, plunge 
among the trees, and ply the fatal rifle. Upon this occasion, profit- 
ing by the unexpected improvement in the roads, they had recourse 
to a further expedient. Every man, like the Templars of old, 
brought on a foot-soldier behind him, so that in actual conflict a 
line of skirmishers, thrown to the front, covered and concealed by 
their smoke, the approaching cavaliers. This dangerous force was 
under the immediate command of an cx-governor of Kentucky — 
Shelby — a veteran of the revolutionary war, who, at the age of 66, 
still showed all the fire and vigour and energy of youth. 



BATTLE GROUND ON THE THAMES. 227 

Sucli were the men who now tracked down the retiring British 
soldiers. Proctor, roused from his sleep, took to horse, and with 
his staff rode to. the front. He encountered the retreating force 
about three miles to the west of Moravian Town. Day was break- 
ing. He instantly ordered the whole force to halt, and face right 
about. The order was most gladly met. The men, after a weari- 
some night's march, seemed to be reinvigorated by the prospect of a 
fight. The position thus accidentally taken up was very favourable. 
The Thames, not wide, but deep, covered the left flank ; the road 
cut the line perpendicularly at about 200 yards from the river ; 
from the road the line of front continued for about 300 yards, until 
it struck an impassable cedar swamp, which effectually covered the 
right flank. Upon this narrow front Proctor disposed his small 
force. They had contrived to bring up with them a single gun, a 
six-pounder, on a travelling-carriage. This piece of artillery was 
planted on the road, in what may be termed the centre of the posi- 
tion. The men were deployed to the right and left from the river 
to the swamp, their formation being dislocated and broken by the 
intervening trees. In front of the position was a continuous, but 
open, forest. The swamp on the right was occupied by thejndians. 
This disposition was excellent. The left flank was secure, the centre- 
strong. The right flank, more extended, was covered by the swamp, 
which, extending lengthwise in the direction of the road, flanked 
the American attack on the main position. Here Tecumseh, in a 
morass, of which the mere name alone can convey no idea to the 
uninitiated — amid moss-hung trees and twisted trunks, and trees 
fallen and rotten, overgrown with a vegetation tangled and thick, 
smothered by too much moisture and too Httle air, knee-deep at the 
best, and often deeper — was unassailable by the Kentucky horse- 
men, while he could sally out upon their flank, and wage a hand to 
hand conflict, in which the lithe Indian on foot, with rifle and toma- 
hawk, was more than a match for the individual horseman. 



228 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

These dispositions were made at about six o'clock in the morning. 
Two hours elapsed before the enemy appeared. In that interval, 
Tecumseh had conference with Proctor. On parting, he shook 
hands with his chief, with a fearless look. His last words were, 
" Father ! have a big heart ! " It was beheved that Tecumseh had 
retired to his people in the swamp with the understanding that he 
was to await the discharge of the gun as a signal for l\is onset. The 
gun was never fired. 

Two hours elapsed. In that interval the men sat down and 
rested, and partook of such scraps of food as remained in their 
haversacks. But no precaution was made against surprise, or to 
notify an advance. No pickets were thrown out, nor videttes to 
the front, though a small force of militia cavalry was at the General's 
disposal. MacLean rode down the front track for about a mile, and 
saw nothing, but heard the American bugles ringmg in the woods 
around him. 

Another precaution — the one most naturally suggested and easily 
executed — was incomprehensibly omitted. A dozen axes — and 
with the force, there must have been one hundred — would, in an 
horn*, have cut down an ahattis impassable to men on horseback, 
clearing also the front to musketry fire. This simple expedient 
never occurred to Proctor ; at all events, it was never put in prac- 
tice. 

The enemy, by their scouts, had reconnoitered and saw clearly 
the British position. About 8 a. M. they first showed the head of 
their advance. They came on slowly, carefully covering themselves 
■with the trees. The riflemen on foot crept on stealthily in front, 
and soon troubled the British line. The horsemen followed, dodging 
behind trees, but still maintaining a discomiected formation. They 
approached nearer and nearer. On a sudden, they clustered 
together, and made a rush forward. They were met by a volley, 
which daunted them for a moment. In another, they again clus- 



BATTLE GROUND ON THE THAMES. 229 

tered together, and, before the men could reload, charged again. 
The men broke, and in one moment more, all was over. 

The chief attack was on the right of the road and line. The men 
here threw down their firelocks. The gun and the left flank, taken 
in reverse, broke and surrendered in detail. Proctor and his staff, 
stunned by the sudden disaster, and overborne by the irresistible 
tide of fugitives, retired upon Moravian Town, and found their way 
ultimately, in wretched plight, to Burlington Heights. One officer 
and twenty or thirty men, who were on the extreme right of the 
Une,next to the Indian ambuscade, withdrew unobserved, and joined 
the other fugitives at Ancaster. 

The whole effective British force engaged on that 5th of October, 
was 47G men, of whom 12 were killed and 22 wounded. The 
American army on the field amounted to above 3,000 men. 

This great catastrophe, unparalleled in the annals of the British 
army, requires some further investigation. It may be said, in ex- 
tenuation, that the men were worn out, and borne down by harassing 
and irritating service, and that, from the nature of this service, all reg- 
imental pride, all esprit de corps, had been lost. They had been 
detached on outpost duty for months, in the most exposed places. 
Fever and ague, and the depressing symptoms of this disease, were 
rife among them ; 170 men were then in hospital. They had not 
received pay for months ; they had no great-coats ; their food had 
failed. They knew that on the preceding day their supply-boats, 
fallen to the rear, had been taken by the enemy. They had 180 
miles of wilderness behind them ; they were exhausted by the 
night's march. They knew that there was no hope of successful 
retreat. The expressions used by them, when faced about in the 
morning, showed that they were ready to strike a last blow ; but 
they felt that it was the last. 

But there was another element of disintegration at work. Proctor 
was on bad terms Avith his regiment. He was the General com- 



230 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

manding on the frontier. He was also Lieut.-Colonel of 11. M. 41st 
Infantry. There is not in the whole social fabric a more beautiful 
or more delicate piece of machinery than the internal structure and 
economy of a British regiment. What a main-spring is to a watch, 
such is harmony among the officers. While they pull well together 
with the good taste and good feeling which cliaracterize the service, 
the same manly, cheery, cordial spirit prevails in every barrack- 
room. The men, with intuitive tact and feeling, without knowing 
how, nor caring how, imitate that which recommends itself to their 
best instmcts. Discord among the officers disconcerts good men, and 
makes bad men licentious. Discontent and dissatisfaction corrode 
disciphne. It did so in the present instance. The fact and the 
effect were both known. The bands of discipline were relaxed, and 
broke at the first strain, and the result was ruin. 

To this unhappy combination of causes must be ascribed the want 
of energetic unanimity, and the absence of that mutual confidence, 
which begets self-rchance, and is the foundation of all military cohe- 
rence in the hour of trial. The men had ceased to rely on one 
another — to regard " shoulder to shoulder," as the bulwark of 
strength and maxim of salvation. To these causes must be ascribed 
the fall of a corps, to that hour distinguished for martial conduct, 
and which, on fifty stricken fields since, has washed out, with the 
best blood of its bravest, that one, solitary, spot on an honoured 
escutcheon.* 

Proctor was tried by a court-martial. It is not for the Canadian 



• To this holocaust of expiation Canada has contributed its victims. Monti- 
zambert, Major, a member of one of the oldest and most respected families in 
Quebec, served in this regiment m India— at Candahar, at Cabool, in theKyber 
Pass — and was slain while gallantly leading his men on the 12lh Sept., 1848, 
in Mooltan. Lieut. Evans of the 41st, son of Gen. Evans, was killed while 
storming a hill fort in AiTghanistunj subsequent to the fall of Cabul in 1846. 



BATTLE GROUND ON THE THAMES. 231 

chronicler to add one word to the decision of His Royal Highness 
the Prince Regent, dated Horse Guards, 9th Sept., 1815, by 
which so much of previous service, and perhaps of future promise, 
were extinguished for ever. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Tecumseh— His character— Origin— Tribe of the Shawanese— From Virginia- Driven into 
Ohio— Thence into Michigan— The Brothers Elksottawa and Tecumseh— Influence of 
.Tecumseh over Indian tribes, due to his personal qualities — Anecdotes — Haughty con- 
duct towards the "Long Knives" — His disinterestedness— Indian skiU as draftsman — 
His personal appearance and costume— Stern adherence to England — Last words to 
Proctor — Attack of the American riflemen — Tecumseh slain by the hand of Col. James 
Johnston— The four heraldic supporters of Canada— Outrage ofiered to his remains. 

But the great episode of this fatal field has yet to be related. 
Here fell Tecumseh. Here fell the untaught Shawanese, the friend 
and comrade of Brock. It is difficult to do justice to the memory 
of this worthy compeer of Spartacus, of our own Caractacus, and 
of that noble .^tliiop, Toussaint L'Ouverture. No braver barbarian 
ever graced Roman triumph. Here he fell — 

Butchered, to make a Roman holiday! 

We have but few of the notdbiUa of his early career. He was 
chief, or chief-conjoint, of the Shawanese, a tribe originally of Vir- 
ginian stock, but which, in the slow but sure progress of European 
cupidity and aggression, had been driven back from the sea-coast, 
and had established their hunting-lodges in the Scioto country, in 
what is now the State of Ohio. This was in 1730. In 1812 they 
were estimated to number about three hundred warriors.* They 
were designated the "fierce Shawanese," and have been denounced 
for their ferocity ; but men and the descendants of men familiar 



•Schoolcraft. Indian Tribes. "Vol. I, p. 301. 



TECUMSEH. — THE SHAWANESE. 233 

with the Inquisition, the auto-da-fe, the fires of Smithfield and of 
the Grenelle, — with the rack, the wheel, the red-hot pincers, and 
the boihng pitch, — with 

Luke's iron crown, and Damien's bed of steel- 
have no pretence for fastidiousness on this score ; nor should they 
use hard words towards their fellow-men, frenzied by acts of cruel 
and often wanton wrong. Their contact with the whites had not 
tended to abate this fierce characteristic. Year by year, and inch 
by inch, had they been forced back, from camp-fire to camp-fire, 
from the Atlantic to the Wabash, appealing in vain to a Christian 
doctrine since known as the "Monroe," and which, being done into 
plain English, apparently means — 

That they should take who hare the power, 
And they should keep who can. 

Hunted and harried, in course of time they receded until they 
found themselves in the territory of Michigan, under British protec- 
tion. In 1812 they obeyed the counsels of the Prophet Elksottawa, 
and followed to the field his more warlike brother Tecumseh, From 
his youth up he had shown himself to be a remarkable man. Devoid 
of education, in the European acceptation of the term, he had yet 
learned to control himself. Instinctively he had risen above the in- 
stincts and passions of his race. He despised plunder; he abjured 
the use of spirits ; he had overcome a propensity strong within him, 
and had, for years, renounced " fire-water." His conduct in the field 
was only exceeded by his eloquence in council. This combination of 
head and hand won the hearts of his tribe and of their savage allies. 
The influence of the chief extended over the warriors of many other 
Indian nations. With the skill of a statesman he appeased all dis- 
sensions, reconciled all mterests, and united all minds in one common 
alliance against the hated Americans. This was due to his personal 
qualities alone. 



234 CHEONICLE OF THE WAR. 

He had little respect for the superstitions of his people. " Totems" 
and genealogies he treated with indifference. As a specimen of 
his eloquence, may be related his reply to Governor Harrison of 
Indiana. On the 12th August, 1810, he appeared, at the head of 
400 warriors, at Vincennes, in front of the Governor's residence, 
and was invited " w." He replied : " Houses are built for you to 
hold council in ; Indians hold theirs in the open air." When the 
meeting was over, one of the governor's aides-de-camp said to him, 
pointing to a chair : " Your father requests you to take a Seat at 
his side." Standmg erect, and in a scornful tone, the chief 
answered : " My father ! the sun is my father, and the earth my 
mother. On her bosom I will repose ;" and then seated himself 
upon the ground. 

He hated the " Long-knives " with an intensity of hatred. In 
battle, in actual conflict, he was unsparing. To the wounded he was 
pitiful ; from the conquered he turned with contempt. At the 
capture of Detroit, to a remark from Brock, he replied, haughtily : 
" I despise them too much to meddle with them." Not an act of 
violence could be charged against the Indians on that occasion. 
Brock, admiring the control he possessed and exercised, took off his 
silken scarf, and wound it round the waist of the chief. Tccumseh 
was, in despite of his stoicism, evidently gratified ; but, to the sur- 
prise of all, appeared the next day without the decoration. To an 
inquiry, he answered that he could not wear such a distinction, 
when an older and an abler warrior was present. He had given the 
sash to the Wyandot chief. Round-head. Before crossing the De- 
troit, to attack Hull, Brock had sought from him topographical infor- 
mation. Tccumseh threw himself on the ground, took a sheet of bark, 
and with his knife traced a map of the country — its woods, hills, 
rivers, roads, morasses, — which the best oflBcer in the army could 
not have surpassed. He was taciturn by habit, after the manner 



TECUMSEH — HIS ASPECT AND COSTUME. 235 

of the Indians ; but when roused, his intellect and his imagination 
gave utterance to a flood of impassioned oratory.* 

The American delineator delights in depicting Tecnmseh in a 
red coat, with a pair of tinsel epaulettes, such as append to the 
shoulders of unhappy British officers on the American stage. He 
has even been mustered into the service as a Brigadier-General. 
Without disrespect to his memory, it may be said that he did not 
hold a rank which he would have adorned. Contrary to the Indian 
natute, he had an aversion to external ornament. His invariable 
costume was the deer-skin coat and fringed pantaloons ; Indian 
moccasms on his feet, and an eagle-feather in the red kerchief 
wound round his head, composed his simple and soldierly accoutre- 
ments. Richard, Coeur de Lion, himself was not more contemptuous 
of spoil, or avid of glory. He was about five feet ten inches in 
height, with the eye of a hawk, and of gesture rapid ; of a weU- 
knit, active figure ; dignified when composed, and possessing fea- 
tures of countenance which, even in death, indicated a lofty spirit. 
He was in the forty-fourth year of his age when he fell. 

He had, under severe trial, adhered with stem fidelity to the 
British arms. He did not assimilate with Proctor. Still, in pros- 
perity and in adversity, with his counsel, or against it, to the last 
hour he was true as steel. True to King George, true to British men, 



* The greater portion of the facts relating to the career and character Of 
Tecumseh, have been drawn from "Tapper's Life of Brock," and from the 
spirited sketch of the chief given therein, and drawn by Colonel Glegg, after- 
wards Military Secretary Lord Aylmer in Canada ; but, in the temporary 
absence of the book, and, in addition, recourse has been had to one of a series 
of papers on the war of 1812, which have lately appeared in a popular peri- 
odical — Harper's Magazine. It is to be regretted that these papers, cleverly 
written and artistically illustrated, should, in an attractive form, pander to 
the worst prejudices of an obsolete time, and should disseminate, near to our 
own firesides, and in the year of grace 1863, the most unjustifiable statements 
with respect to Indian violence and British complicity. 



236 CHRONICLE OP THE WAR. 

true to his faith in a cause and in a people of whom he had but an 
indistinct idea, he died fearlessly in that faith, true to the last. 
His death sheds a halo on the story of a much abused and fast 
departing race. May the people of England and their descendants 
in Canada never forget this noble sacrifice, or the sacred obligation 
it imposes. It should be held as the seal of a great covenant. 
" And Jonathan said to David, the Lord be between thee and me, 
and between my seed and thy seed for ever." 

The last words of Tecumseh to Proctor, had been : " Father, have 
a big heart !" — and with his own big heart on his lips, he withdrew 
to direct his own people in the swamp on the left of the battle-field. 
The American horsemen in their advance divided into two bodies. 
The right division, under Lieut.-Colonel James Johnston, advanced 
upon the British line, threw out their dismounted riflemen, and 
charged with the effect related. The left division, under Colonel 
Richard M. Johnston, the elder brother, attacked the Indians in 
the swamp. An account given by a fair American writer is intel- 
ligible enough.* Richard Johnston and twenty of his men devoted 
themselves to draw the Indian fire. Nineteen out of the twenty- 
one fell, but the Indians, elated by their success, sprang from their 
covert and met, on even ground, a portion of the rifles who had been 
providently dismounted, and who, now pushed forward into the fight. 
Johnston, himself wounded in four places, but still in the saddle, 
was attacked by a prominent warrior, who Avounded him a fifth time 
with a rifle shot. At the same moment, his horse, also wounded, 
stuml)lcd forward, but did not throAv his rider. Johnston had at 
his side a pistol loaded with four buckshot and a bullet. He saw 
the Chief rush at him with upraised tomahawk — levelled his pistol 
and fired. He remembered no more. He could discover nothing 
through the smoke— faint from loss of blood, he reeled out of the 

• Army and Navy of America, by Jacob K. Neff, JI.D., p. 56G. 



TECUMSEH — HIS ASPECT AND COSTUME. 237 

* 

saddle, and -was borne almost lifeless from the spot. He was told 
afterwards, that he had killed Tecumseh. The Colonel gave his 
storj simply and not boastfully, but others scrambled for credit 
where a brave man found cause for pain. There is every reason 
to believe that Johnston did slay Tecumseh. On his body was 
found the marks of four buckshots and a bullet. These wounds 
had caused his death. From their direction they must have been 
inflicted from above — as from a man on horseback. Johnston was 
the only man on horseback in that part of the field.* 

And so died as brave and as true a soldier of England as ever 
trod the heather of the Highlands or the wealds of Kent. He 
completes the tale of the immortal four, who, to the end of time, 
will hold up in the face of all nations, the young escutcheon of 
Canada. Four more chivalrous supporters of a national trophy 
have never before adorned the pages of History or the triumphs of 
Sculpture, than Wolfe and Montcalm— Brock and Tecumseh. 

It is painful to be compelled to record the disgraceful fact, that 
the body of the Indian hero was treated with foul indignity. It is 
believed, that the inanimate corse was scalped, and it was braggishly 
asserted by the Kentucky men, that strips flayed from his skin had 
been used as razor straps. f Scotchmen of the present day blush 

* Battle of the Thames. "This action fought in October, 1813, was the 
last and most complete defeat of the Savages of the North-Western Lakes. 
Tecumseh was supposed to have fallen by the hand of Colonel Johnston, of 
Kentucky; but that veteran soldier has himself said, that all he could say, 
was : wheu attacked by the Chief, he fired, and when the smoke cleared away, 
the Indian lay dead before him. The popular account attributes the deadly aim 
and wound to one Mason, a native of the county of Wexford, Ireland, who 
though a grandfather, aged four-score, volunteered his services on that expedi- 
tion. He had been an old revolutionary soldier, and fought in the ranks with 
his own sons — themselves men of middle age." — History of the Irish Settlers in 
North America, by Thomas d'jlrcy McGee. 

t " The Indian hei'o, Tecumseh, after being killed, was literally flayed in part 
by the Americans, and his skin carried off as a trophy." Vide Appendix- 
Bishop Strachan's Letter. 



238 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

when told, that after the battle of Sterling— five centuries and a 
a half ago, — their countrymen made whip-thongs of the hide of 
Crossingham, the Enghsh Treasurer ; and generations of Americans 
will remember, with greater shame, an act of equal barbarism, com- 
mitted, in a refined age, by a Puritan people, with even less show of 
provocation. 



CHAP. XXIII. 

Battle of the Thames— Its effect— In the States— In Canada. Sir George Prevost. Demon= 
stratiou on Niagara. Vincent concentrates at Burlington Heights. American projects 
on Montreal. Generals "Wilkinson and Hampton. Plan of attack from the "West and 
from Lake Champlain. Hampton advances to Odelltown— Encountered by De Sala- 
berry— Ketires— Followed to the Four Corners. Career of De Salaberry- Attempts to 
Surprise the Americans— Discovered— Falls back on the line of Chatcauguay. Prepa- 
rations for defence. Keports on the battle by the American Adjutant-General, King. 

The catastrophe of the Thames -was a source of intense exulta- 
tion to the American government and people. " lo triumphe " 
resounded through the land. It had obhterated the disaster of 
Hull. It had restored the Western country, the territory of 
Michigan, and the Fort of Detroit, to the American arms. It had 
cowed the Indians. Cannon, the trophies of Burgoyne and 
Saratoga, which had been re-captured by Brock, were re-taken 
and paraded, crowned "with flowers. The remnants of a British 
regiment- were marched with triumphal pomp through the hourgades 
of the West, and though entitled to the treatment usually accorded 
to prisoners of war, had been ignominiously herded with the in- 
mates of a local Penitentiary.* British officers, confined in the 
cells at Frankfort m Kentucky, had leisure to study the philosophy 
of institutions, which award the same penalty for shooting a wife 
or stealing a negress. To cro"WTi all, it elevated Shelby and Johnston 
to the rank of heroes, and, in after years, made General Harrison 
President of the United States. 

• James, Vol. II, p. 299. 



240 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

It fell as a heavy blow upon the British, but it causecT no dis- 
couragement among the people of Canada. It roused much indig- 
nation, and caused a renewed outburst of dogged resolution, but 
the immediate advantage to the Americans was immense. It gave 
them undisputed possession of the waters of Lake Erie and Lake 
Huron. It relieved them from all apprehension on their Western 
frontier, and enabled the Cabinet of Washington to concentrate 
their energies and their forces on the long contemplated project 
against Montreal. 

In retracing our steps from West to East, we may be allowed to 
express surprise, that Harrison had not followed vigorously in the 
same direction, and treading with his Kentucky horse on the 
retreating footsteps of Proctor, reached, simultaneously, with him 
his refuge at Ancastcr. The position of Burlington Heights might 
thus have been assailed on all sides, by laud and lake, for speedy 
means of communication with Chauncey and his fleet at Niagara 
could easily have been found, and the British force advanced on 
the Niagara frontier, would have been placed between two fires ; 
and cut off from reinforcements and supply, would have been ex- 
posed to the fate which had just befallen the army of the West, or 
the Right Division. 

For, be it remembered, that after the successful actions at 
Stoney Creek and the Beaver Dam, the British advanced posts had 
occupied the latter position, and the American forces on Canadian 
soil, though they held no more than the ground they stood on, still 
fringed the whole Niagara frontier between Fort George- and 
Fort Erie, and that Commodore Chauncey occupied the safe and 
convenient refuge of the harbour mouth of the River Niagara. 

In the interval between the engagement at Stoney Creek, and the 
battle of the Thames, Sir George Prcvosthad made a tour of inspection 
in Upper Canada, and had made bold to attempt a demonstration, 
as it was afterwards called, on the works held by the Americans at 



DEMONSTKATION ON FORT GEORGE. 241 

Fort George. If this demonstration meant anything it must have 
contemplated the storming and the capture of Fort George, for the 
idea of a purposeless demonstration cannot be entertained. And 
yet the capture of this work would have resulted in exposing the 
town of Newark and the captors themselves, in an inferior position, 
to the powerful fire of Fort Niagara ; while the occupation of Fort 
George by the Americans weakened the American army in the 
field, and kept a large detachment of good troops uselessly en- 
trapped upon the Canadian frontier. Nevertheless, on the 24th 
August, Sir George made a formal attack upon this post, drove in 
the pickets, looked the defences in the face, and retired, as Veritas 
says : — 

The Kiag of France, with forty thousand men, 
Walked up the hill, and then, walked down again. 

Sir George appears to have been afilicted with a strange infir- 
mity of military purpose. His error consisted, not so much in the 
failure of the attempt, as in attempting at all, either without 
plan, or without resolution. To woo a Queen, or to command 
victory requires a daring spirit : — 

" Fain would I climb, but that I fear to fall, 
If thy heart fail thee, climb not at all." 

The Governor General returned to Kingston and to Montreal, 
taking with him De Rottenburg, — the Lieutenant Governor, — in 
his train, and having done little to infuse courage and confidence, 
or prepare the minds of men to encounter the trials to come. 

On receipt of the intelligence of Proctor's disaster. General 
Vincent prudently withdrew from St. David's and the Beaver Dam, 
and again concentrated his forces at Burlington Heights. He also 
called in his outposts from Long Point on Lake Erie and made 
every preparation for a desperate struggle with Harrison. The 
universal feeling at this moment was " no surrender," and yet 



242 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

there can be no doubt, but that fears which acquired strength as 
they flew, had magnified the danger to such an extent at Quebec, 
that orders were given at this critical moment, for the complete 
evacuation of all Canada, west of Kingston. Officers of rank and 
zeal, among whom the most conspicuous was Sir John Harvey, 
interfered to avert a measure pregnant with ruin, but so sure was 
the American Government that Vincent would save the " kernel" 
and Harrison only find the " shell" that they ordered their sue- 
cessful General back to Detroit, and by the aid of Perry's fleet 
threw the " Conqueror of the Thames" and his army on the 
Niagara frontier, in support of the combined operations planned 
from Sackett's Harbour and Lake Champlain on Montreal. 

Thus, by degrees, Montreal became the grand centre of Ameri- 
can strategy. Immense preparations had been made for a cou^ 
defoudre which was to terminate the campaign in a blaze of red 
lights with melodramatic effects. In the words of an American 
writer of no mean rank, the Hon. B. Gardinier of New York, once 
a Member of Congress:* " The Democrats concerted a grand 
campaign. The whole season was employed in tremendous prepa- 
rations.° Public expectation was perpetually on the stretch. The 
Secretary of War was in the vicinity of the armies. Perry had se- 
cured Lake Erie. Chauncey had hemmed in Yeo. Wilkinson sounded 
his bugle. Hampton rose in his strength. From East to West 
was nothing heard but the dreadful note of preparation and the 
easy capture of Montreal. From both armies came letters teeming 
with assurances of victory. Victory was the cry of a thousand 
trumpets."! And again, from the same writer, we have an enume- 
ration of the forces prepared for the invasion. " When Wilkinson 
lay at Grenadier Island, the army of the North amounted to 

. From the " Canadiaa Inspector," being an answer to Veritas, pp. 24, 25. 
t Examiner, p. 317. 



WILKINSON AND HAMPTON.— ADVANCE ON MONTREAL. 243 

10,000 men. Hampton had 5,000, which with 6,000 militia 
augmented the force destined to reduce Lower Canada to 21,000 
men. Opposed to this army were 5,000 regulars— 2,000 of which 
were in Upper Canada." * 

This writer was not far wrong in his estimate of the relative 
strength of the British and American forces. The original plan of 
the American campaign, as enjoined on General Wilkinson, had 
embraced the surprise and capture of Kingston and the seizure of 
Prescott— as a whet to a growing appetite, only to be appeased by 
the conquest of Montreal.f General Hampton having assembled 
his strength at Plattsburg was directed to penetrate across the 
Seigniory of Beauharnois, emerge on the shores of the St. Lawrence, 
and occupy the coast of Lake St. Louis between the mouth of the' 
Chateauguay and the Indian Village of Caughnawaga. From 
hence he could at any thne unite with Wilkinson on the Island of 
Montreal, between St. Ann's and Pointe Claire. The Isle Perrot 
was regarded as a point d'appui, and intended so to be held, and 
the flotUIa which had transported Wilkinson was prepared to aid in 
effecting the junction. This conjoint operation followed in the 
footsteps of its mihtary predecessors. Like Amherst in 1760, and 
Montgomery in 1775, Wilkinson and Hampton manoeuvred to 
attack Montreal on its most accessible side. Then, as now, Mon- 
treal was not to be assailed in front with impunity. From Lachine 
down to the Island of St. Helen's, the rapids of the River St. 
Lawrence— a stream, very wide— in some places, very shallow, 
abounding in rocky reefs, and in rapid currents-and impassable^ 
except in a class of vessels which can not be extemporized— 
present obstacles which, with a Uttle precaution, may be made 
insurmountable. 



* Examiner, p. 91, Vol. II. 

t Armstrong. Vide Letter, dated War Department, Sackett's Harbour. Sept. 
22, 1813. Appendix, VoL II, p. 201. 



244 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

Now, as then, no enemy can cross the River St. Lawrence 
below the Island of St. Helen's, until he has subjugated the South 
shore, and has scuttled the gunboats of England. These are some 
of the conditions precedent of a passage of this great river in 
summer. In winter the navigation will take care of itself. The 
American War Department was well aware that if, by a sudden 
irruption, they could occupy the fertile and inviting valley of the 
Richelieu, seize Sorel, and cross the St. Lawrence, they would, 
hazardously, place an immense river between themselves and their 
supphes ; expose their army to attack both from Quebec and 
Montreal, and invite every available war-ship of England to inter- 
rupt reinforcements and intercept retreat. They eschewed there- 
fore any line of advance which would put them on the St. Lawrence 
below Montreal. To assaU the city in front was impracticable 
without the aid of boats of a description which is not portable, and 
the last, and, perhaps only, practicable, expedient, was a descent on 
the Island from the West and an advance upon the city by the 
olden route of Lachine. It is not necessary to dwell further here, 
upon what, when occasion serves, will be shown hereafter, that, 
such being the unavoidable conditions of an advance on Montreal, 
the facilities of defence, developed by the necessities of the attack, 
if rightly improved, render Montreal a military position of great 
strength, resembling to a certain extent Vicksburg on the Mis- 
sisippi— hut in many respects superior. 

These considerations, perfectly well understood by every in- 
structed officer in the American service, led to the only feasible 
scheme of attack, had the execution been eciual to the plan. 

The combined operation was well designed, and the better, that 
either force, under Hampton or under Wilkinson, was in itself, 
more than sufficient in numbers and equipment to have attained 
the object in view. Wilkinson's force was 10,000 men-infantry, 
cavalry, and artillery, admirably supplied and transported by 



COLONEL DE SALABERRT. 245 

water. The men landed and fought in hght marching order — the 
very knapsacks were cared for in the boats. Hampton hj his own 
account had with him " 4,000 effective infantry and a well- 
appointed train of artillery." * And then, without speaking of 
cavalry, by which we know that he was accompanied, and without 
taking into account the 6,000 mihtia which, from the best Ameri- 
can authority, we also know, that he had at his disposal, there 
can be no question, but that the American invading force from the 
Plattsburg frontier came up to the strength assigned to it by Sir 
George Prevost in his Despatch of the 30th October, — that is to 
say, to 7,200 combatants. 

To encounter these combined forces, were dispersed below 
Kingston, on the line of the St. Lawrence, and in the District of 
Montreal, over a surface of at least 300 miles — in garrison, in 
camjD — on outpost and in hospital some 3,000 troops, regular and 
mihtia. Of this force 1,600 men were in hne on the South of 
the St. Lawrence, to repel Hampton's invasion. The advanced 
column, watching the frontier, consisted of 350 men. 

The renewed preparations at Burlington in Vermont, and at 
Plattsburg in the State of New York had, from an early period in 
the season, attracted attention in Lower Canada. These prepara- 
tions could have no other object in view than an irruption on 
Montreal, through that part of the District of Montreal lying 
west of the river Richelieu. Isle aus Noix — St. John's and 
Chambly — were the garrisoned points directly menaced — but 
garrisons can rarely do more than protect the posts they occupy ; 
and it was necessary to provide for the observation as well as the 
defence of an extended frontier. To this advanced column, there- 
fore, scattered in a widely extended order, was confided the safety 
of the frontier. It was commanded by Colonel de Salaberry. It 

* Letter to Secretary of War, 12th October, 1813. 



246 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

became the duty of this officer to anticipate irruption or sortie, and 
to detect from the sound and flash of the distant gun the intended 
course of the projectile. 

As early as September, the American General Hampton had 
transported across Lake Champlain the force collected at Burling- 
ton, and at the head of 5,000 men had attempted an invasion of 
the District of Montreal. On the 29th September he had des- 
patched his elite under Majors Snelling and Hamilton to surprise an 
outlying picket at Odelltown. This was a hamlet buried in the 
dense forest, wliich for many leagues, in those days, covered the 
frontier. All the roads and pathways through the " bush " had 
been cut up, obstructed by ahattis, and made impassable, during 
the preceding campaign by de Salaberry and his axe-men ; still 
had Hampton pushed forward vigorously, his riflemen might have 
held the outskirts of the woodland, while his pioneers cleared away 
the obstacles in their rear. Three or four leagues of black-ash 
swamp once surmounted, and he would have emerged among the 
farms and populous parishes of an open and cultivated plain. But, 
both parties of the elite were misled or misdu'ected. The attack 
upon the picket was but partially successful — the alai'm was given 
— the ahattis were manned by a few frontier Light Infantry and 
by a handful of Indians under Captain Mailloux, Avho multiphed 
their number by an incessant fusiladc, while yells of horrid augury 
reverberated through the gloom. These brave men held their own, 
until they were reinforced by the flank companies of the 4th Bat- 
talion of the embodied militia under Major Perrault * and by the 
Canadian Voltigeurs commanded by Colonel do Salaberry. 
This indefatigable officer was Hampton's fate ; — 

Ha ! vrho comos here? 
Art tliou some god, some angel, or some devil, 
That makes my blood cold, and my hair to stand ? 
Speak to me. What art thou ? 

• Vide p. 85. 



FRENCH FAMILIES OF NOBLE DESCENT. 247 

Ghost. Thy evil spirit, Brutus ! 

Brutus. Why com'st thou ? 

Ghost. To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi. 

and, on the pretext of want of water, in a very wet countrndy, a 
very wet season, Hampton withdrew from Odelltown — fell back on 
his own frontier, and moved his force westward, to find his Philippi 
on the banks of the Chateauguay. 

Charles Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry, Seigneur of Chambly 
and Beau Lac, was descended from a noble Basque family — of 
which a brave cadet had earned renown and rich feudal posses- 
sions under the French Crown, in Canada.* He was one of that 
chivalrous race of men, whose very names embelhsh Canadian 
story with picturesque illustrations. The younger branches of many 
noble French houses had sought service and settlement in a 
country peculiarly adapted to the genius and traditions of men to 
whom arms were the only career, and with whom the sword was 
the guidon to fortune. The process of French colonization in 
Canada had been unavoidably military. The cultivator of the soU 
was in ceaseless contest with the savagery of nature and of man. He 
could never abandon the sword for the plough-share. He was 
compelled to use both, with alternate hand. The feudal system 
of mediaeval France was well calculated to encounter this condition 
of things. The same martial polity, which had, five centuries 
before, inspired the " Assizes de Jerusalem," engrafted its proto- 
type the " Coutume de Paris " on the soil of Canada. The Saracen 
in the East, and the Savage in the West, would own no obedience 
but to the mailed hand. This military code provided at once for 

• Of the family of the brave Colonel de Salaberry, O.B., the eldest son, 
Alphonse, is Adjutant General of Militia for Lower Canada. Louis, the second 
son, lives at Chambly. Charles, the third, is colonel of a regiment of Volun- 
teers in the district of Quebec. Of the ladies of his family, one daughter is the 
widow of the late Augustus Hatt, Esquire, and now resides at Sorel. 



248 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

colonization and defence, and harmonized with the antique associa- 
tions of the colonists. "In 1598 Henry of Beam authorized the 
granting of fiefs, chatellaines, and baronies in Canada to men of 
gentle blood for the tutelage and defence of the country." * And 
the Bearnoise or Basque family of de Salaberry profited, and not 
unworthily, by the wise liberality of their fellow countryman. 
Their father and the grandfather of Colonel de Salaberry had borne 
the " panache hlayiclie " in full front of the fight against the 
standard of England, but from the hour when, by sacred treaty, 
their allegiance had been transferred to the sceptre of England, 
they bowed reverently to the last behest of their native Prince, 
and, at his command, gave "/o^ et liommage^'' to the British 
Crown. f And to that great obligation they, and the mass of their 
fellow countrymen, have ever been nobly faithful since. De Sala- 
berry and three brothers took service in the British army. Two 
died under the blazing sun of Hmdostan, — one fell in the deadly 
breach of Badajos. Our Canadian hero served in the West Indies. 
He had commanded the Grenadier Company of the 60th regiment, 
4th battalion, in many fierce engagements. He distinguished 
himself in 1795 at the conquest of Martinique, and had survived 
the miasmata of Walcheren. On returning to Canada he turned 

• Garneau, Vol. I, p. 182. 

t In a cote to Mr. J. M. Lemoyne's interesting collection, entitled " Maple 
Leaves," we find the following record of French Canadian services to the 
British Crown twenty-five years after the Conquest : — 

" A imi'ty of distinguished Canadians on the 8th June, 1775, offered their 
services to Major Preston in Montreal to retake Fort St. John from the Ameri- 
cans, and did so on the 20th June, placing it in the hands of a detachment of 
the 7th Regiment, or Royal Fusiliers, under Captain Kineer. They Averc the 
Chevaliers de Belcstre, de Longueuil, de Lotbinicre, de Rouville, de Bouchcrville, 
de Lacorno, do La Bruiere, de St. Ours, de Levy, Pertuis, Ilcrvieux, Gamelin, 
do Montigny, d'Eschambault, and others. For this service, General Carleton 
publicly thanked them. In September of tlie same year, this party, with the 



SKIKMISH AT THE FOUR CORNERS. 249 

his military experience to go®d account, and raised the corps of 
Canadian Yoltigeurs. At the head of this corps, as has been 
ah-eadj related, with the advance of Colonel D'Echambault he 
had, in the campaign of the preceding year, repulsed the first 
attempt made by Dearborn on the debateable ground of La 
Cole. 

On Hampton's retirement from Odelltown he was promptly 
followed up. Salaberry overtook him at the Four Corners, or cross 
roads of the Chateauguay — via qiid sc findit in amhas — about five 
miles within the American frontier, and near the source of the 
river. Here an attempt was made to surprise the American 
camp, which failed through the accidental discharge of a musket, 
when Salaberry, finding himself to be discovered, collected about 
fifty of his Voltigeurs, and a handful of Indians, and made a 
vociferous onset on the advanced detachment of the enemy, con- 
sisting of about 800 men. The Americans fell back in confusion, 
and enabled him to withdraw without loss. These small affairs 
had infused mutual confidence into the commander, and his men, 
and contributed to the great success which was shortly to follow. 

Under the smoke of this light skirmish, de Salaberry fell back 
on his supports, following the descending course of the Chateau- 
assistance of a number of Volunteers, from Quebec and Three Rivers, Messieurs 
de Montisson, Duchesnay, de Rigouville, de Salaberry, de Tonancour, Beaubien, 
de Musseau, Moquin, Lamarque, Fauchier, and others, started for St. John's 
near Montreal, to relieve the Tth and 26th Regiments, then in charge of the 
fort; and Tvho expected a siege; but after being beleaguered, the fort surren- 
dered on the 2nd November to Gen. Montgomery. The Canadians and the two 
regiments were carried away prisoners of war — Congress refusing to exchange 
the Canadians ' they being too much attached to the English Government, and 
too influential in their own country.' Two — Messieurs de Montesson and de 
Rigouville — died prisoners of war. De Lacorne, Pertuis, and Beaubien had 
been killed during the siege. DeLotbiniere had an arm shot off. De Salaberry 
was twice wounded." — Pp. 66, 67. 



250 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

guay. He knew the ground thoroughly, havmg long before 
examined it, with the foresight of one charged with the safety of 
the outposts of the army. 

He could now see the course of the projectile. He had indeed 
already anticipated its line of flight, and was already prepared to 
counteract the blow. For some days previous he had been occu- 
pied in choosing his positions and in fortifying them with the ready 
materials the Canadian forest offers. His dispositions for this 
purpose were made with great judgment. 

It is impossible not to be struck by the meagreness of detail 

which characterizes both British and American narratives of this 

important action — but to the American the subject was not a 

pleasant one, and to the English writer not very intelligible. The 

scene of action was remote from the daily track of travel and of 

strife. It was neither seen nor sought. The battle was fought by 

French Canadian militia-men. These men dispersed to their 

homes— doubtless they " fought their battles o'er again" by their 

own fire-sides, but the English writer had not much opportunity to 

hear from their lips the changes of the fight. The Despatch of 

Sir George Prevost dwells more upon his own shght intervention 

at the close of the action than upon the incidents of the contest. 

The report of the American Adjutant General, King, is curt and 

conclusive : " 25th October. The plan of the attack adopted by 

the General was to detach Colonel Purdy with the elite and the 

1st Brigade, forming the most efficient part of the army, across 

the river ; and by a night march gain the fording place on the left 

of the enemy's line, re-cross the river at that point, and at dawn 

of day attack the enemy's rear ; while Izzard's Brigade, under his 

own direction, should pursue the march, and at the same hour, 

attack it in front. The whole of this plan miscarried shamefully; 



SKIRMISH AT THE FOUR CORNERS. 251 

Purdj's column, probably misled, fell into an ambuscade, and was 
quickly beaten and routed ; and that of Izzard, after a few dis- 
charges, was ordered to retreat." And this report is a fair intro- 
duction to a more detailed story of the fight. 



CHAP. XXIV. 

story of Chateauguay. The " Temoin oculaire." Hampton advances from Four Cor\iers. 
De Salaberry faces right about, and returns to meet him. First rencontre— Halts- 
Throws up breastworks and abattis. Disposition of defenders— Ford in the rear. 
American attack on abattis— Impracticable. Attack on flank and rear, partially suc- 
cessful—Repulsed—Broken by flank fire. Retreating Americans fire on each other. 
Hampton, daunted, withdraws from front of abattis and retreats. Force engaged. 
Brilliant conduct of oflScers and men. Honour to De Salaberry. 

It is always satisfactory that the party most interested should 
be enabled to tell his own story, and by a fortunate occurrence, 
this source of satisfaction has been supphed. The Redacteur of 
the " Courier d'Ottawa," Dr. L. E. Dorion, has re-produced most 
opportunely the narrative of a " Temoin oculaire," dated 3rd 
November, 1813. This narrative appears to have been published 
in some of the journals of the day. If a guess may be hazarded 
as to the authorship, it might be, perhaps not unjustly, ascribed to 
the late Commander Jacques Viger of Montreal. Ample in detail 
and minute in circumstance, it gives, with all the proverbial case 
of the French raconteur, incidents which correspond in the main 
with the relations of more pretentious writers. The following 
account of the Battle of Chateauguay will be little more than the 
story told by the " Temoin oculaire " done into English. The 
original will be found in the Appendix. 

The American army at the Four Corners, under Hampton, after 
having for some time attracted the attention of our troops, on the 



DESCRIPTION OF GROUND. — PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE. 253 

21st October moved direct on our frontier. That same afternoon 
about 4 p.m. his advanced guard drove in our advanced videttes. 
They were thrown out to a place called " Piper Road," about 
ten miles from the church at Chateauguay. Major Henry, of 
the Beauharnois militia, in command at the English River, notified 
Major General de Watteville, who ordered up, at once, the two 
companies of the 5th Incorporated Militia, commanded by Captains 
Levesque and Debartzch, and about two hundred men of the Militia 
de Beauharnois. This force advanced about two leagues until, at 
nightfall, it halted at the extremity of a thick wood into which it 
would at that moment have been imprudent to penetrate. At 
daybreak they were joined by Colonel de Salaberry with his 
Voltigeurs and Captain Fergusson's Light Company of the Cana- 
dian Fencibles. Thus composed, de Salaberry pushed on, along 
the left bank of the river, about a league, and there encountered 
a patrol of the enemy. He instantly halted his force. He had 
some weeks before carefully reconnoitred this very ground, and 
knew that the whole course of the river presented no better posi- 
tion. The forest was intersected by ravines which drained a 
swamp on his right, and fell into the river which covered his left. 
Upon four of these ravines, which were like so many moats, fosses, 
in his front, he threw up breastworks. The three first lines were 
distant perhaps 200 yards from each other. The fourth was half 
a mile in the rear, and commanded a ford, by which an assailant 
coming from the right bank of the Chateauguay might have got 
into his rear. It was most important to guarantee this, the weak 
point of the position. Upon each of these lines of defence a 
parapet of logs was constructed, which extended into the tangled 
swamp on the right ; but the front line of all, following the sinuosi- 
ties of the ravine in front, formed almost an obtuse angle to the 
right of the. road, and of the whole position. This whole day — the 
22nd — was employed vigorously in strengthening these works, 



254 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

vrhicli in strength, natural and artificial, could not be surpassed. 
They had also the advantage of compelling the assailant to advance 
to the attack through a wilderness, remote from his supplies, while 
our troops had all they required, and were close upon their 
supports in the rear. 

The right bank of the river was covered by a thick forest. In 
the rear, at the ford, care was taken to post about sixty men of 
the Beauharnois miUtia. 

Nor did the Colonel limit his precautions to the works above 
spoken of. To secure himself to the utmost, he detached a party 
of thirty axe-men of the division of Beauharnois to destroy every 
bridge within a league and a half of his front. And about a mile 
ahead of the front line of defence above described, he threw down 
a formidable abattis of trees, with the branches extending out- 
wards, and reaching from the bank of the river on his left, three 
or four arpents across the front to a savanne or swamp on the 
right, which was almost impassable. Thus the four inner lines 
were effectually covered, and the American artillery, known to 
number at least ten guns, was rendered useless. They could not 
be brought into action. 

To these admirable arrangements, as much as to the heroism 
of his men, must be ascribed the brilliant results which ensued, 
and to the gallant de Salaberry, alone, must be ascribed the choice 
of the ground and the dispositions made. 

On the 22nd, Major General de Watteville visited the outposts 
and approved entirely of the precautions taken, but the labour of 
strengthening the position continued without intermission up to the 
25th September. When at about 10 a.m. the American skir- 
mishers opened on the abattis, Lieutenant Guy of the Voltigeurs, 
who was in front with about twenty of liis men, fell back, and was 
supported by Lieutenant Johnson of the same regiment, in charge 
of the picket, which protected the fatigue party. After a sharp 



AMERICAN ADVANCE — ABATTIS AND FORD. 255 

exchange of musketrj, the labourers retired within, — the covering 
party to the front of the abattis. 

At this moment, de Salaberry, who had heard the first firing, 
rode up from the front line of defences. He brought with him 
three companies of the Canadian Fencibles under Fergusson, which 
deployed at once on the right rear of the abattis. The company 
of Captain J. B. Duchesnay was extended on the left, while the 
company of Captain Jucherau Duchesnay occupied, en jjotenoe, a 
position on the left rear among the trees on the bank of the river, 
so as to take the enemy in flank if they attempted to carry the 
ford in the rear, held by the Beauharnois militia. 

It should be observed here, that in this part of its course, and 
between the abattis and the ford, the river made a curve or bow, 
80 abrupt, that at the re-entering elbow of the curve, the fire of 
the defenders flanked the ford in support of the fire in front. 

Then de Salaberry, who had already twice during this campaign, 
tested the American metal — who had longed for another trial — 
saw his opportunity, and profited by it. He was in the centre of 
the line — the companies of Fergusson, L'Ecuyer, and deBartzch on 
his right. In the swamp and wood lay Captain Lamothe and a 
corps of Indians ; on the left and left rear the companies of the 
two Duchesnay's. The place of these troops taken from the first 
and second lines of defence was supplied from the third and fourth 
by the Canadian Fencible. regiment, under Colonel Macdonell of 
Ogdensburg fame. 

While these arrangements were being made with precision and 
rapidity, the enemy debouched from the wood into a large open 
space in front of the abattis. On the left bank of the river 
Hampton had the supreme command : under him served General 
Izzard, at the head of the 10th, the Slst, and other regiments, 
amounting to 3,000— or 3,500 men with three squadi-ons of 
cavalry and foui- guns — and yet the artillery was not brought into 



256 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

action. About 1,500 men were thrown on the right bank of the 
river under Colonel Purdy to force its way through the bush, and 
take the Canadian force, in reserve, at the ford below. 

The enemy debouched on the plain in front of de Salaberry in 
column, and advanced in this formation close to the abattis,^ 
exposing the head of his narrow line to a fire in front, and 
his flank to the Indians and tirailleurs m the bush and swamp. 
This was his moment. An American officer had ridden forward, 
and had attempted to harangue the troops in French. Salaberry 
seized a rifle, fired, and the orator fell. At the same moment his 
buckler sounded the order to fire, and a blaze of musketry burst 
from the abattis and the swamp. The column halted, paused for 
a moment, made a turn to the left, formed line, and opened a 
vigorous fusilade — but the fire of the left was, by this movement, 
thrown into the wood, where it had but little efiect. Not so Avith 
the fire of the right, which compelled our pickets to retire within 
the abattis. The enemy mistook this falling back for a flight, and 
raised a great shout, which we returned with interest, and it was 
all they got from us, for they never had possession of one inch of 
the abattis. While the cheers on the one side were re-echoed by 
cheers on the other, taken up by the troops in our rear, suddenly 
Salaberry ordered all our bugles to sound, to augment in imagiaa- 
sion the strength of our force. The i'use had this efiect. We 
learnt from prisoners afterwards that they had estimated our force 
at 6,000 or 7,000 men. But for all the shouting and bugling, the 
musketry fire never ceased. It was so hot and uninterrupted, 
that the enemy never attempted to carry the abattis. After a 
time their fire slackened, and they appeared to await other events 
— they looked to the other side of the river. 

Here the bugles indicated an advance, and Colonel Macdonell, 
eager to add to the laurels he had won at Ogdensburg, moved 
rapidly in the direction of the fire with two companies from the 



ATTACK AT THE FORD — AMERICAN REPULSE. 257 

first and second line of retrenchments under Captain Levesque. 
The Beauharnois militia, defending the ford, had been attacked by 
Purdj in superior force, and had been compelled to retire. Mac- 
donell ordered Captain Daly with his company of the 5th Incor- 
porated to cross the ford in their support. 

At this moment de Salaberry, perceiving the fire in his front to 
i*elax, and the shouts of the combatants and the fire of musketry 
to increase on his left flank and rear, saw, at once, that a diversion 
was about to be operated at the ford, and betook himself to his 
left where the company of Juchereau du Chesnay was drawn up 
en potence, and came down to the river just as Daly crossed the 
stream. From a stump, he watched the advance of the enemy with 
a field glass, exposed the while to a heavy fire, and gave words of 
encouragement to Captain Daly as he waded through the water. 
This gallant officer got his men into order and most bravely thrust 
the enemy home. They fell back, ralhed and reformed, and 
opened a well-sustained fire. Daly was over-matched. He and 
his brave Canadians slowly fell back. He had been wounded in 
the advance, and while retiring, while encouraging his men by 
word and example, he was wounded a second time and fell. 
Captain Bruyere of the Milice de Beauharnois was also wounded at 
the same time. Their men, unequal in numbers, were compelled to 
recede, slowly, and with face to the foe, under the command of the 
gallant Lieutenant Schiller, and once more was heard the joyful 
shouts and jeers of the advancing enemy — but their exultation was 
brief — for rushing forward, unobservant of the company formed 
en potence on the other side of the river, they became suddenly 
exposed to a crushing fire in flank, which at short distance arrest- 
ed their march and threw them into utter confusion. Vain was 
the attempt to rally — they broke and scrambled back into the 
bush. There, it is believed, that advancing parties fired upon 
their retiring comrades, mistaking them for enemies. On the 

B 



258 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

other hand, Hampton, learning that his stratagem had failed, and 
that the attack on the ford, on which he had so much relied, had 
resulted so disastrously, drew off his left attack, which for an hour 
had been inactive, though incessantly persecuted by our skir- 
mishers from the abattis. The Canadian troops remained in 
position, and slept that night on the ground on which they had 
fought. 

In the morning, being reinforced by the company of Voltigeurf! 
under Captain de Rouville and the grenadiers of Captain Lcvesque 
of the oth Incorporated and sixty of the Beauharnois Division, de 
Salaberry confided to Colonel Macdonell the defence of the 
abattis against any renewed attack, and pushed forward his ■ 
videttes cautiously — incredulous of Hampton's retreat. About 
twenty prisoners were taken, and the line of flight was indicated 
by muskets, knapsacks, drums, and provisions strewed in the way. 
Forty dead bodies were interred by our people, many graves were 
found, and notably, those of two officers of distinction, buried by 
their own men. The wounded were carried off, but we knew after- 
wards that the enemy estimated their own loss hors de combat at 
upwards of one hundred. 

This brilliant achievement cost the Canadian force, two killed, 
sixteen wounded. Among the officers most prominent on this 
occasion — and all did their duty nobly — were Captains Fergusson, 
de Bartzch,* and Levesque of the 5th ; Captain L'Ecuyer of the 

• Captain de Bartzch, of the Voltigeurs, in after years the Hon.P.D. de Bartzch, 
of Si. Charles on the river Richelieu, Seigneur of the Seignior}' of that name, 
and as member of the Assembly and of the Legislative Council, au active 
able, and eloquent advocate of reform, so long as reform eschewed revolu- 
tion — has bequeathed an honourable name to a family who, in the bloom of 
life, recall pleasant recollections of the promise of the bud. Tiie eldest daugh- 
ter of this gentleman married the Hon. Lewis T. Drummond, late Attorney 
General for Lower Canada. The second is the wife of the Hon. Cornwallis 
Monk, Judge of the Superior Court. The fourth married the Count de Rotter- 



CAPTAIN DE BARTZCH— THE DU CHESNAYS. 259 

Voltigeurs; the two du Chesnajs of the Voltigeurs,* who both dia- 
tinguished themselves bj their sang froid and precision in the 
execution of difficult manoeuvres. To these must be added the 



mund, a Polish exile and savant; and the third M. de Kierzkowski, son of the 
late Lieutenant-General Kierzkowski, an old and distinguished officer in the 
service of Russia. This gentleman has been returned, and held a seat, in both 
branches of the Canadian Legislature, a^ a member of the House of Assembly 
and member of the Legislative Council, 

ad unguem 
Factus homo,— non ut magis alter, amicus. 

• The Brothers du Chesnay, whose names will ever stand in our Canadian 
story as the foremost in this conflict— the Ajaces of the fight, 

aei c<f>o)v /cAeof eaaerai kut' aiav, 
were of an old family. Their first settlement in Canada dates from 1640. The 
family name is Juchereau de St. Denis,— du Chesnay (of the oak grove) being 
the designation of a fief which became the appanage of a younger branch 
bearing the patronymic of Juchereau. One of the two brothers, Juchereau 
du Chesnay, had served the British crown for some years in the 60th regiment 
—on foreign stations-and on the death of his father, retired from active service, 
in the interests of his estate and of his family. But the hereditary passion was 
inextinguishable. On the first sound of war he transferred to the militia the 
knowledge he had acquired in the line. He raised a company in the Canadian 
Voltigeurs, and during the war was constantly on the frontier. He was, as 
given in the text, actively engaged at Chateauguay. He was subsequently 
appointed Deputy Adjutant General of .\Iilitia and Superintendent of the Indian 
Department. His devotion to the Throne has descended as an heir-loom to 
those, whose friendship is a pleasure, and a pride to the contemporary annalist. 
His surviving children are the Hon. Juchereau du Chesnay, M.L.C., and Phi- 
lippe, now Provincial Aide-de-Camp and Lieutenant-Colonel, Militia. Of his 
daughters, the eldest is the widow of the late Hon. Roch de St. Ours, M.L.C., 
formerly Sheriff of the District of Montreal, and the representative of one of 
the oldest and best families in French Canada. The second is the wife of 
T. C. Campbell, Enquire, C.B., late Major in the 7th Hussars, Seigneur of St. 
Hilaire de Ro.iville, and Colonel, Militia. And the third is married to Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Ermatinger, who earned for himself, rank, and for Canada, 
distinction, in the service of Spain, and is now one of the Inspecting Field 
OflBcers of Militia of the Province. 
The second brother, better known as the " Chevalier" du Chesnay, was also 



260 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

gallant Captain Daly * of the Canadian Fencibles and Bruyere of 
the Chateauguay Chasseurs, both of whom were wounded. Captain 
Lamothe made the most of his handful of savages. Lieu- 
tenants Pinguet,! of the Light Infantry ; Guy, Johnson, Powell, 
and Hebben of the Voltigeurs ; Schiller, of Daly's company, — all 

ia the British service, previous to the war of 1812. On the outbreak of the 
contest he devoted his services to his country's cause, raised a company of 
Voltigeurs, and at Chateauguay, and on all other occasions, upheld, at the 
head of his French fellow countrymen, the honour of the British flag. A ne- 
phew, Narcisse, the son of an elder brother Antoine, a lad of 10 years of age, 
was also in the field at Chateauguay, actually engaged. " Those who were 
there behaved themselves so loyally that their heirs to this day are honoured 
for their sake." Froissart, Vol. II, p. 220. 

* Joseph Daly, Esquire, of Montreal, H.M. agent for emigrants, is a nephew of 
this brave officer. 

t Captain Pinguet. — This officer appears to have been a Quebecquois. Since 

writing the above, there has appeared in a Feuilleton, published in Quebec, 

and entitled "Soirees Canadiennes," two letters, indited by Captain Pinguet, 

one shortly before, and the other, immediately after the Battle of Chateauguay. 

In the second he says : " C'^tait le dimauche que I'abaitis fut commence, et le 

mardi, corame les bucheurs fiaissaient quelque chose qui manquait, un parti de 

dix hommes de notre compaguie et de vingt des Voltigeurs, qui ^talent en avant 

pour proteger les travaillants, aper(;urent I'avant-garde de I'ennerai qui 

3'avan(jait. * * ♦ Nous avions a combattre contre deux mille hommes de pied et 

deux-cents hommes de cavalerie ; nous ne perdious pas de temps; nos soldats 

ont tir^ entre treute-cinq et quarante cartouches, et en si bonne direction que 

les prisonniers que nous fimes le lendemain disaient que nos balles passaient 

toutes a r^galit^, soit de la tete, soit de la poitrine. Notre compagnie seule 

3'est battue la environ trois-quarts d'heurc avant que de recevoir du renfort. 

• • ♦ • • And to show that campaigning in Canada is not a mere 

promenade inililaire, may be added : " Apres la bataille,on nous a ramen^s dans 

nos retranchemcnts, ou nous avons pass<5 huit jours, a la pluie, au froid, sana 

feu et sans couvcrtures ; de la, nous sommes desccndus aux maisons, ou nous 

etions prcsque aussi mal que dans les bois ; nous y avons 6t6 huit jours, et avons 

rcQu ordrc de remonler. Je crois a present qu'un homme est capable d'endurer 

aans crever, plus de misere qu'un bon chien." ■* 



CAPTAIN LONGTIN — DUTY TO GOD AND KING. 261 

displayed intelligence and vigour. Captains Longtin and-Huneau 
of the Milice de Beauharnois gave to their men an honourable 
example. Of the former it is related, that on the commencement of 
the action, he knelt down at the head of his company and offered 
up a brief and earnest prayer. " And now, mes eyifaris,^' said he, 
rising, " having done our duty to God, we will do the same by our 
King." Here spoke out that olden spirit of chivalrous devotion 
which the history of a thousand years has made the heritage of the 
Canadian people. 

Nor should we pass over in silence the names of the simples 
soldats, — Vincent, Pelletier,Vervais, Dubois, and Caron, — all of the 
Voltigeurs, who swam the river and cut off the retreat of the 
prisoners who were taken.* 

It will be seen at once that the whole brunt of the action fell 
upon the advanced corps under the command of Colonel de Sala- 
berry. This force barely numbered 300 combatants. The battle 
was fought in front of the first line of entrenchments, at the 
abaitis, and at the ford in the rear. On this part of the field de 
Salaberry commanded alone, and to him alone is to be ascribed 
the glory of the victory. 



* Among the officers in command of companies who had not the good fortune 
to be actually engaged — who were " well in hand," but not wanted — on the 
26th October, may be noted the names of de Beaujeu, de Lery, de Rouville, de 
Tonnancour, Malhiot, Raymond, Bruere, the indefatigable McKay, and Berczy. 
The company, however, of this last officer was in the charge of Lieutenant Tach^, 
now the Hon. Sir Etienne Tache, Colonel and Aide-de-Camp to the Queen — 
of whom more hereafter. A sister of Captain de Tonnancour married the Hon. 
Thomas Coffin, of Three Rivers, and his eldest son is Prothonotary of the Court 
of Queen's Bench, Montreal. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Macdonell of Ogdensburg — The Canadian Fencibles — Descent of the St. Lawrence — 
Running the Kapids— !Niglit March througii the Bush — "Always on Hand "—French 
and English " Shoulder to Shoulder" — Natural Exultation of the French Canadians — 
Practical Reply to Dishonouring Imputations- Gratitude of the British Government — 
Queenston Heights— Chateauguay— Chevy Chace and the "Combat des Trentes"— 
Beaumanoir and Bembro— Croquart. 

Had the gallant de Salaberry required the services of a fellow 
soldier, or had the fortune of war, even for a moment, deprived us of 
his own, there stood, happily, at his side the most efficient substitute 
Canada could supply. Macdonell of Ogdensburg had been lately ap- 
pointed to the command of a battahon of French Canadian Fencibles, 
and was at Kingston drilling and organizing the force confided to him. 
On the 20th October,. Sir George Prevost, then at Kingston, 
received intelligence of Hampton's irruption on the Beauharnois 
frontier. At the time, Wilkinson was known to be within a few 
miles in front, at the head of 10,000 men. Kingston was pre- 
sumed to be his object. The distracting effect of this double 
menace, in front, and in flank and rear, demanded prompt and 
judicious counteraction. Here Sir George did well. He dared 
not Aveaken Kingston by withdrawing a single man of the line. 
As he mounted his horse for Lower Canada he sent for Macdonell, 
and inquired if his corps was in a fit state to meet the enemy ; and 
was assured that they were ready to embark so soon as they had 
done dinner. Prevost gave his prompt subordinate cat'te blanche, 
enjoining, simply, a prompt rencounter with Hampton on the Beau- 
h?irnois frontier. Left to himself and to his own resources, 



RUNNINa THE RAPIDS — NIGHT MARCH. 263 

Macdonell was not unequal to the emergency. He had offered 
men. He had now to find boats, and boatmen and pilots, to 
conduct those men in safety down the dangerous rapids of the 
St. Lawrence. In that named "of the Coteau du Lac" Lord 
Amherst lost in 1760. sixty-eight batteaux and eighty-eight men. 
Those who have descended the rapids of the St. Lawrence for a pas- 
time, in a well-found steamsr, manned and piloted and handled, to 
provide against all chance of accident, and can recall the combined 
sensation of awe and misgiving with which they sank and suyged 
amid those boiling waters, whirled by rocks and shoals, where a 
touch would have been destruction, with the speed and rush and 
roar of a tempest, and who rejoice even now that the rapids are 
passed and the danger over, may be able to appreciate the resolu- 
tion of men who dared the same danger at the call of duty, in huge 
unwieldy row-boQ.ts or batteaux, to which a disabled oar or a mis- 
direction of the rudder must have brought instantaneous destruc- 
tion. But no misgivings troubled the minds of these brave men or 
their resolute leader. His arrangements were rapidly made. 
Boats were soon procured — his own personal experience supplied 
pilotage— rhis soldiers volunteered to the oar. Every French Ca- 
nadian is a boatman. The perilous waters to which they are 
accustomed demand the constant exercise of bravery and skill. 
The world does not produce better material for soldier or sailor. 
After a few hours' delay he embarked with his 600 men, encoun- 
tered great dangers, but surmounted all ; ran all the rapids 
successfvilly ; crossed Lake St. Francis in a tempest ; disembarked 
on the Beauharnois shore ; and in the dead of the night threaded 
the forest in [ndian file, reaching the bank of the Chateauguay, on 
the morning of the 25th September, in advance of Sir George 
Prevost, who had ridden down the opposite shore of the St. Law- 
rence aided by relays of horses. When the Commander-in-Chief 
asked him in a tone of some surprise '' And where are your men ?" 



264 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

" There, Sir," replied Macdonell, pointing to 600 exhausted 
soldiers sleeping on the ground, not one man absent* This 
willing young battalion of French militia, officers and men, had 
accomphshed the distance from Kingston to the battle-field of 
Chateauguay — 170 miles by water and 20 miles by land in 60 
hours of actual travel — a fact which deserves to be ranked by the 
side of the marvellous march of the Light Division of the British 
army before the battle of Talavera, recorded with so much of just 
pride by the historian Napier. 

Thus it was, that three companies occupied the rearmost lines of 
defence prepared by de Salaberry, and being thus in the rear, 
Daly's company had the proud satisfaction of repelling the Ameri- 
can flank attack on the ford. Of the men, therefore, engaged, all 
were French. Of the officers, four names indicate their British 
lineage. Their gallantry proved it, and proved further, how 
thoroughly in such a cause, and on such a field — should occasion 
ever occur — the people of French Canada may rely on the staunch 
co-operation of their fellow citizens of British extraction. 

The French population of Lower Canada are very proud of the 
victory of Chateauguay, and with just reason. The British popu- 
lation of the Upper Province had achieved a like success over the 
common enemy at Queenston Heights. It was gratifying to the 
natural pride of a great national origin, that the fortune of war 
should have thus equitably distributed her honourable distinctions. 
They had, moreover, a stronger motive, both for resentment and 
exultation. The American Government and democratic press, 
with unexampled effrontery, had cast upon a race " sansi jj»cMr et 
sans reproche,^^ the dishonouring imputation of an easy political 
virtue. They had been charged with a readiness to violate plighted 
honour, and with disaffection to the British Crown. Truthful and 



• Vide United Service Journal, June, 1848. Corresp. 



QUEENSTON HEIGHTS AND CHATEAUGUAY. 265 

generous in all relations, whether of peace or war, they resented 
this indignity, as a stain felt more keenly than a wound, and they 
gave the " Bostonais " their answer on the field of Chateauguay. 

This noble and opportune service had the effect of twenty victo- 
ries. Twenty days had hardly elapsed since the defeat of Proctor 
on the Thames. Muttered rumours of disaster had scarcely 
reached remote districts, ere the cloud of anxiety and doubt 
was dispelled by the exploit of Chateauguay, and the Red Cross 
Banner of England gleamed forth unsullied, in the light of that 
valour which it had so often encountered, proved, and respected, 
under the LUies of France. 

Great Britain honoured this worthy feat of arms in a becoming 
manner. Standards were conferred upon the regiments engaged. 
A Battle Medal was given to every soldier. De Salaberry was 
made a Commander of the Bath. Sir George Prevost, who had 
ridden up from his quarters in the rear at the close of the action, 
extolled in a Despatch dated from Montreal on the 30th October, 
the conduct of the men engaged, and dwelt with superfluous com- 
placency " on the determination of all classes of His Majesty's 
subjects to persevere in an honourable and loyal line of conduct," 
which upon that occasion, at least, might have been allowed to 
speak for itself. 

Queenston Heights and Chateauguay are to the people of 
Canada what Chevy Chace and the " Combat des Trentes " were, 
in the olden time, to their martial ancestry — the fountain and the 
nursery of traditions, which create character and foreshadow a 
national career not unworthy of the sources from whence they 
spring. As " the child is father to the man," so to nations, 
honourable traditions are the best guarantee of future greatness, 
and the descendants of those who fought on the battle fields of 
Canada, accepting the obligations noble memories impose, are as 
proud of their antecedents, as those who glory in the iron legend 



'2Q6 CHRONICLE OF THE "WAR. 

of Beaumanoir and Bembro — of Knollys, Calverty, and Croquart 
— or of those who, 

With stout Erie Percy there were slain, 

Sir John of Adgerton, 
Sir Robert Ratcliff and Sir John, 

Sir James the bold Heron. 

The " Combat dcs Trentes " is, probably, not so familiar to 
English ears, as the fierce Border foray immortalized in the Ballad 
of Chevy Chace. The story has been well told, is full of national 
interest, and is not an inappropriate pendant to scenes upon 
which the Canadian loves to lino;er. Both the " Combat des 
Trentes " and the " woeful hunting " of Chevy Chace, befell in 
the same century, but the encounter of the " Thirties " preceded 
that " on Cheviot side " by many years. Chevy Chace dates 
probably from the year 1388. The " Combat des Trentes " took 
place 27th March, 13G1.* 

About twenty miles from the town of St. Malo, " St. Malo, 
heau port de Mer,''^ on the river Ranee, stands the romantic town 
of Dinan, and, in a dell hard by, where ripen the best figs in 
Brittany, experto crede, may still be seen the ruins of the Chateau 
and Monastery of Beaumanoir. Thirty-five years ago. the mailed 
effigies of the warriors of a half-forgotten race lay recumbent on 
their tombs in the chancel of the roofless abbey, spared by the 
ravages of revolution, ])ut crumbling rapidly beneath those of time. 
The name of Beaumanoir was one of high renown in the days of 
du Guesclin and of Olivier de Clisson, when the English contested, 
on the soil of France itself, the suzerainete of the French crown. 
The Lord of Beaumanoir was one of the leaders in this remarkable 
" Combat des Trentes," of which the following account is given in 



• Battle of Otterbourne (historically the same as 

the foray of Chevy Chace), August 15, 1388 

Combat dea Trentes March 27, 1351 



COMBAT DBS TRENTES. 267 

the Histoire de Bretagne, quoted in a note to Johnes' edition of 
Froissart, Vol. II, p. 191 :— 

" After the death of Sir Thomas Daggeworth, the King 
appointed Sir Walter Bentley, Commander in Brittany. The 
English, being much irritated at the death of Daggeworth, and not 
being able to revenge themselves on those who slew him, did so on 
the whole country, by burning and destroying it. The Marshal 
de Beaumanoir, desirous of putting a stop to this, sent to Bembro, 
who commanded in Plo^rmel, for a passport to hold a conference 
with him. The Marshal reprobated the conduct of the English, 
and high words passed between them ; for Bembro had been the 
companion in arms to Daggeworth. At last, one of them proposed 
a combat of thirty on each side. The place appointed for it was 
at the half-way oak tree between Josselin and Ploermel, and the 
day was fixed for the 27th March, 1351, bemg the fourth Sunday 
in Lent. Beaumanoir chose nine knights and twenty-one esquires. 
Bembro could not find a sufiicient number of Enghsh in his garrison 
— there were but twenty — the remainder were Germans and 
Bretons. Bembro first entered the field of battle, and drew up his 
troop. Beaumanoir did the same. Each made a short harangue 
to his men, exhorting them to support their own honour and that 
of their nation. Bembro added, that there was an old prophecy of 
Merlin, which promised victory to the English. The signal was 
given for the attack. Their arms were not similar, for each was 
to choose such as he liked. Billefort fought Avith a mallet 25 lbs. 
weight, and others with what arms they chose. The advantage at 
first was with the English, as the Bretons had lost five of their men. 
Beaumanoir exhorted them not to mind this, as they stopped to 
take breath ; when each party having had some refreshment, the 
combat was renewed. Bembro was killed. On seeing this, Cro- 
quart cried out, ' Gompagnons, don't let us think of the prophe- 
cies of Merlin, but depend on our courage and arms ; keep your- 



268 CHRONICLE OF THE WAR. 

selves close together, be firm, and fight as I do.' Beaumanoir, 
being wounded, was quitting the field to quench his thirst, when 
Geoffry du Bois called out, ' Beaumanoir, drink thy blood, and 
thy hurt will go oflf.' This made him ashamed and rejourn to the 
battle. The Bretons at last gained the day, by one of their party 
breaking, on horseback, the ranks of the English — the greater part 
of whom were killed. Knollys, Calverty, and Croquart were 
made prisoners, and carried to the Castle of Josselin. Tintimiac 
on the side of the Bretons, and Croquart on the EngUsh, obtained 
the prize of valour. Such was the issue of this famous Combat 
of Thirty, so glorious to the Bretons, but which decided nothing 
as to the possession of the Duchy of Brittany." * 

* The Chronicler adds in the text, with respect to Croquart, " He was ori- 
ginally but a poor boy, and had been page to the Lord d'Ercle in Holland. He 
had the reputation of being the most expert man-at-arms of the country. He 
was. said to be worth 40,000 crowns, not including his horses, of which he had 
twenty or thirty, very handsome and strong, and of a deep roan colour. King 
John offered to knight him, and to marry him very richly if he would quit the 
English party, and promised to give him 2,000 livres a year ; but Croquart 
would not listen to him. It chanced one day as he was riding a young horse, 
which he had just purchased for 300 crowns, and was putting him to his full 
speed, that the horse ran away with him, and in leaping a ditch, stumbled into 
it, and broke bis master's neck." Such was the end of Croquart. 



END OF VOL. I. 



NOTE. 

The anonymous correspondent through whose valuable agency the inter- 
esting narrative of a " T6moia oculaire " has been revived, after an oblivion of 
fifty years, expatiates on the apparent apathy of his fellow countrymen, and 
points to the monument on Queenston Heights as an example and a reproach. 
He asks why nothing has been done to, commemorate the scene of this great 
national exploit, and to point out to posterity the battle field of Chateauguay. 
This writer will be pleased to hear that the subject has not been altogether 
neglected, and that although much remains to be done, a step has been taken 
in tiie right direction, which, it is hoped, may lead to more practical results. 
There is, in the immediate vicinity of the battle field, a piece of Ordnance pro- 
perty, in superficies about five acres, occupied by an old block house. On the 
suggestion of the ofiicer in charge, this piece of land has been set apart as the 
site of a future national monument. Through the active instrumentality of the 
Hon. Sir Etienne Tach^, the Hon. George E. Cartier, Attorney General, and 
the Hon. P. Vankoughnet, then Commissioner of Crown Lands, an Order in 
Council was passed, dated 7th December, 1859, " reserving this piece of land 
from sale, and appropriating it for the purpose of erecting a monument comme- 
morative of that distinguished feat of Canadian arms — the Battle of Chateau^ 
guay." 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX. 



No. 1. 

{Extracted from the Report of the Loyal and Patriotic Society of Upper 
Canada. Published, Ilontreal, Lower Canada, 1817. Printed hy 
WiUiarii Gray.) 

To Thomas Jefferson, Esquire, of Monticello, Eaypresident of the 

United States of America. 
Sir, 

In your letter to a member of Congress, recently published, 
respecting the sale of your library,^!^ I perceive that you are angry 
with the British for the destruction of the public buildings at Wa^sh- 
ington, and attempt, with your accustomed candour, to compare that 
transaction to the devastations committed by the Barbarians in the 
middle ages. As you are not ignorant of the mode of carrying on the 
war adopted by your friends, you must have known that it was a small 



* Monticello, 21st Sept., 1814. 

"Dbae Sir,— I learn from the newspapers that the vandalism of our 

enemy has triumphed at Washington over science as well as the arts, by the 
destruction of the public library, with the noble edifice in which it was depos- 
ited. Of this transaction, as that of Copenhagen, the world will entertain but 
one sentiment. They wUl see a nation suddenly withdrawn from a great war, 
full armed and full handed, taking advantage of another, whom they had 
recently forced into it— unarmed and unprepared— to indulge themselves in 
acts of barbarism which do not belong to a civilized age." 

S 



274 APPENDIX. 

retaliation after redress tad been refused for burnings and depredations, 
not only of public but private property, committed by them in Canada ; 
but we are too well acquainted with your hatred to Great Britain to 
look for truth or candour in any statement of yours where she is con- 
cerned. It is not for your information, therefore, that I relate in this 
letter those acts of the army of the United States in the Canadas, which 
provoked the conflagration of the public buildings at Washington, 
because you are well acquainted with them already ; but to shew the 
world that to the United States and not to Great Britain must be 
charged all the miseries attending a mode of warfare originating with 
them, and unprecedented in modern times. 

A stranger to the history of the last three years, on reading this part 
of your letter, would naturally suppose that Great Britain, in the pride 
of power, had taken advantage of the weak and defenceless situation of | 
the United States to wreak her vengeance upon them. But what would 
be his astonishment when told that the nation, said to be unarmed and 
unprepared, had provoked and first declared the war, and carried it on 
offensively for two years, with a ferocity unexampled, before the British 
had the means of making effectual resistance. War was declared against 
Great Britain by the United States of America in June, 1812, — 
Washington was taken in August, 1814. Let us see in what spirit your 
-countrymen carried on the war during this interval. 

In July, 1812, General Hull invaded the British province of Upper 
'Canada, and took possession of the town of Sandwich. He threatened 
(by a proclamation) to exterminate the inhabitants if they made any 
resistance ; he plundered those with whom he had been in habits of 
intimacy for years before the war — their plate and linen were found in 
his possession after his surrender to General Brock ; he marked out the 
loyal subjects of the King as objects of peculiar resentment, and con- 
signed their property to pillage and conflagration. In autumn, 1812, 
some houses and barns were burnt by the American forces near Fort 
Erie, in Upper Canada. 

In April, 1813, the public buildings at York, the capital of Upper 
Canada, were burnt by the troops of the United States, contrary to 



APPENDIX. 275 

the articles of capitulation. They consisted of two elegant halls, with 
convenient offices, for the accommodation of the legislature and of the 
courts of justice. The library and all the papers and records belonging 
to these institutions were consumed at the same time. The church was 
robbed, and the town library totally pillaged. Commodore Chauneey, 
who has generally behaved honourably, was so ashamed of this last trans- 
action, that he endeavoured to collect the books belonging to the public 
library, and actually sent back two boxes filled with them, but hardly 
any were complete. Much private property was plundered, and several 
houses left in a state of ruin. Can you tell me, Sir, the reason why the 
public buildings and library at Washington should be held more sacred 
than those at York ? A false and ridiculous story is told of a scalp 
having been found above the Speaker's chair, intended as an ornament. 

In June, 1813, Newark came into the possession of your army (after 
the capture of Fort George), and its inhabitants were repeatedly promised 
protection to themselves and property, both by General Dearborn and 
General Boyd. In the midst of these professions, the most respectable 
of them, although non-combatants, were made prisoners and sent into 
the United States ; the two churches were burnt to the ground ; detach- 
ments were sent, under the direction of British traitors, to pillage the 
loyal inhabitants in the neighbourhood, and to carry them away captive • 
many farm houses were burnt during the summer ; and at length, to fill 
up the measure of iniquity, the whole of the beautiful village of Newark 
with so short a previous intimation as to amount to none, was consio-ned 
to the flames. The wretched inhabitants had scarcely time to save 
themselves, much less any of their property. More than four hundred 
women and children were exposed without shelter on the night of the 
10th of December, to the intense cold of a Canadian winter, and great 
numbers must have perished, had not the flight of your troops, after 
perpetrating this ferocious act, enabled the inhabitants of the country to 
come in to their relief. 

Your friend Mr. Madison has attempted to justify this cruel deed 
on the plea that it was necessary for the defence of Fort George. Nothing 
can be more false. The village was some distance from the fort : and 



276 APPENDIX. 

instead of ttiinting to defend it, General McClurewas actually retreating 
to his own store when he caused Newark to be burnt. This officer says 
that he acted in conformity with the orders of his government; the 
government, finding their justification useless, disavow his conduct. 
McClure appears to be the fit agent of such a government. He not 
only complies with his instructions, but refines upon them by choosing a 
day of intense frost, giving the inhabitants almost no warning till the 
fire began, and 'commencing the conflagration in the night. 

In Nov., 1813, the army of your friend General Wilkinson committed 
great depredations in its progress through the eastern district of Upper 
Canada, and was proceeding to systematic pillage, when the commander 
got frightened, and fled to his own shore, on finding the population in 
that district inveterately hostile. 

The history of the two first campaigns proves, beyond dispute, that you 
had reduced fire and pillage to a regular system. It was hoped that the 
severe retaliation taken for the burning of Newark, would have put a 
stop to a practice so repugnant to the manners and habits of a civilized 
age; but so far was this from being the case, that the third campaign 
exhibits equal enormities. General Brown laid waste the country 
between Chippewa and Fort Erie, burning mills and private houses, and 
rendering those not consumed by fire, uninhabitable. The pleasant 
village of St. David was burnt by his army when about to retreat. 

On the 15th of May a detachment of the American army, under 
Colonel Campbell, landed at Long Point, district of London, Upper 
Canada, and on that and the following day, pillaged and laid waste as 
much of the adjacent country as they could reach. They burnt the 
village of Dover, with the mills, and all the mills, stores, distillery, and 
dwelling houses in the vicinity, carrying away such property as was 
portabll, and killing the cattle. The property taken and destroyed on 
this occasion, was estimated at fifty thousand dollars. 

On the IGth of August some American troops and Indians from 
Detroit, surprised the settlement of ?ort Talbot, where they committed 
the most atrocious acts of violence, leaving upwards of 234 men, women, 
and children in a state of nakedness and want. 



APPENDIX. 277 

On the 20th of September, a second excursion was made by the garri- 
son of Detroit, spreading fire and pillage through the settlements in the 
western district of Upper Canada. Twenty-seven families, on this occa- 
sion, were reduced to the greatest distress Early in 

November, General McArthur, with a large body of mounted Kentuckians 
and Indians, made a rapid march through the western and part of the 
London districts, burning all the mills, destroying provisions, and 
living upon the inhabitants. If there was less private plunder than usual, 
it was because the invaders had no mcanfe of carrying it away. 

On our part. Sir, the war has been carried on in the most forbearing 
manner. During the two first campaigns, we abstained from any acts of 
retaliation, notwithstanding the great enormities which we have mentioned. 
It was not till the horrible destruction of Newark, attended with so many 
acts of atrocity, that we burnt the villages of Lewiston, Buffalo, and 
Black Rock. At this our commander paused. He pledged himself to 
proceed no farther, on the condition of your returning to the rules of 
legitimate warfare. Finding you pursuing the same system this last 
campaign, instead of destroying the towns and villages within his reach, 
to which he had conditionally extended his protection, he applied to 
Admiral Cochrane to make retaliation upon the coast. The Admiral in- 
formed Mr. Monroe of the nature of this application, and his determina- 
tion to comply, unless compensation was made for the private property 
wantonly destroyed in Upper Canada. No answer was returned for 
several weeks, during which time Washington was taken. At length a 
letter, purporting to be answered, arrived, in which the Secretary dwells 
with much lamentation on the destruction of the public buildings at 
Washington; which, notwithstanding the destruction of the same kind 
of buildings in the capital of Upper Canada, he affects to consider without 
a parallel in modern times. So little regard has he for truth, that, at the 
very moment of his speaking of the honour and generosity practised by 
his government in conducting the war. General McArthur was directed 
by the President to proceed upon his burning excursion. 

Perhaps you will bring forward the report of the Committee appointed 
by Congress to inquire into British cruelties, and to class them under the 



278 APPENDIX. 

heads furnished by Mr. Madison, as an offset for the facts that have been 
mentioned. The Committee must have found the subject extremely bar- 
ren, as only one report has seen the light; but since the articles of 
accusation are before the public, and have been quoted by the enemies of 
England as capable of ample proof, let us give them a brief examination : 

1st. Ill-treatment of American prisoners. 

2nd. Detention of American prisoners as British subjects, under the 
pretext of their being born on British territory, or of naturalization. 

3rd. Detention of sailors as prisoners, because they were in England 
when war was declared. 

4th. Forced service of American sailors, pressed on board English 
men-of-war. 

5th. Violence of flags of truce. 

6th. Ransom of American prisoners taken by the savages in the service 
of England. 

7th. Pillage and destruction of private property in the bay of Chesa- 
peake, and the neighbouring country. 

8. Massacre of American prisoners surrendered to the officers of Great 
Britain by the savages engaged in its service. Abandoning to the savages 
the corpses of American prisoners killed by the English, into whose 
hands they had been surrendered. Pillage and murder of American 
citizens, who had repaired to the English under the assurance of their 
protection ; the burning of their houses. 

9th. Cruelties exercised at Hampton, in Virginia. 

1st. Ill-treatment of American prisoners. 

General Brock sent all the militia taken at Detroit home on their 
parole, accompanied by a guard to protect them from the Indians, 
detaining only the regulars, whom he sent to Quebec, where they met 
with the most liberal treatment, as the honest among them have fre- 
quently confessed. General Shcaffe acted in the same manner after tlie 
battle of Queenston, keeping the regulars, and dismissing the militia on 
their parole. Nor was this liberal course departed from, till the gross 
misconduct of the American government, in liberating, without exchange, 



APPENDIX. 



279 



those so sent home, and in carrying away non-combatants, and seizing 
the whole inhabitants of the districts which they invaded, rendered it 
absolutely necessary. 

When they were not able to take all the armed inhabitants away, they 
made those they left sign a parole— a conduct never known in the annals 
of war— the conditions of which not only precluded them from afterwards 
bearing arms, but from giving, in any manner, their services to govern- 
ment. The farmers were dragged out of their houses, and carried into 
the States. Clergymen were forced to give their parole ; in fine, it 
appeared to make no difference whether a man was in arms or not,— he 
was sure to experience the same treatment. 

Many people, when prisoners, have been treated in the most infamous 
manner. Officers, though sick and wounded, have been forced to march 
on foot through the country; while American officers taken by us, were 
conveyed in boats or carriages to the place of destination. 

Our captured troops have been marched, as spectacles, through the 
towns, although you affect to complain of Hull's and other prisoners 
being marched publicly into Montreal. The officers of the 41st Regiment 
were'^confined in the penitentiary, at Kentucky, among felons of the most 
infamous description. They were treated with harshness, often with 
cruelty ; and persons who wished to be kind to them were insulted by the 

populace. 

Even the stipulations respecting prisoners, agreed to by the American 
government, have been most shamefully broken. Sir George Prevost and 
Mr. Madison agreed that all prisoners taken before the 15th day of 
April, 1814, should be exchanged on or before the 15th day of May last, 
to be conveyed into their respective countries by the nearest routes. On 
that day the Governor-in-Chief, faithful to his engagements, sent home 
every American prisoner; but the government of the United States 
seemed fOr a long time to have totally forgotten the stipulation. A few 
prisoners were sent back in June, but many of the officers and all the 
soldiers of the 41st Regiment were detained till towards the end of 
October. To the soldiers of this regiment (as indeed to all others) every 
temptation had been presented, to induce them to desert and enlist in 



280 APPENDIX. 

their service, by money, land, &c. After it was found impossible to per- 
suade any number of them to do so, the American government encamped 
them, for nearly two months, in a pestilential marsh near Sandusky, 
without any covering. There, having neither shelter nor the necessary 
quantity of provisions, they all got sick, many died ; and, in October, the 
remainder were sent to Long Point, sick, naked and miserable. From 
this place they could not be conveyed, till clothes had been sent to cover 
their nakedness. Great numbers sunk under their calamities, and the 
utmost care and attention were required to save any of them alive. Such 
an accumulation of cruelty was never exhibited before. 

The government of the United States assumed the prerogative of 
relieving officers from parole, without exchanging them ; and even Com- 
modore E-odgers took twelve seamen out of a cartel, as it was proceeding 
to Boston Bay, and was justified for this outrage by his government. 

2nd. Detention of American prisoners as British subjects. 

It is notorious that a great many of the American army have been 
British subjects since the commencement of the war ; and, had we deter- 
mined to punish these traitors with death, if found invading our terri- 
tories, and, after giving them warning, acted up to such a determination, 
it would have been strictly right ; and in such case very few would have 
entered Canada. While these persons act merely as militia, defending 
their adopted country against invasion, some lenity might be shown 
them ; but when they march into the British Provinces for the sake of 
conquest, they ought to be considered traitors to their king and country? 
and treated accordingly. 

3rd. Detention of sailors as prisoners, because they were in England 
when war was declared. 

This accusation is ridiculous, as sailors are always considered in the 
first class of combatants ; but it comes with an ill grace from those who 
have detained peaceable British subjects, engaged in civil life, and 
banished, fifteen miles from the coast, those of them who happened to be 
in America at the declaration of war, and treated them, almost in every 
respect, like prisoners of war, according to Bonaparte's example. 

4tli. Forced service of American sailors, pressed on board of English 
men-of-war. 



APPENDIX. 



281 



This accusation has been often made, but never coupled with the offer 
of Mr. Forster, to discharge every American so detained, on being fur- 
nished with the list. The list was never furnished. 

5th. Violence of flags of truce. 

This accusation of Mr. Madison contains about as much truth as those 
that have been already examined. We shall give two examples of the 
treatment experienced by the bearers of flags of truce from the British 

army. 

Major Fulton, aide-de-camp to General Sir George Prevost, was stopped 
by Major Forsyth, of the United States army, at the outposts, who 
insulted him most grossly, epdeavoured to seize his despatches, and 
threatened to put him to death. So much ashamed were Forsyth's supe- 
riors at this outrage, that he was sent for a short time to the rear. 

General Proctor sent Lieut. Le Breton to General Harrison, after the 
battle of Moravian Town, to ascertain our loss of officers and men ; but, 
instead of sending him back, General Harrison detained him many weeks, 
took him round the lake, and, after all, did not furnish him with the re- 
quired information, which had been otherwise procured in the meantime. 
6th. Ransom of American prisoners, taken by the savages in the 
service of England. 

Some nations of the natives were at war with the Americans, long be- 
fore hostilities commenced against England; many others not. When 
attempts were made to conquer the Canadas, the Indians beyond our ter- 
ritories, part by choice and part by solicitation, came and joined us as 
allies; while those within the Provinces had as great an interest in 
defending them, as the other proprietors of the soil. To mitigate as 
much as possible the horrors of war, it was expressly and repeatedly told 
the Indians that scalping the dead, and killing prisoners or unresisting 
enemies, were practices extremely repugnant to our feelings, and no 
presents would be given them but for prisoners. This, therefore, instead 
of becoming an article of accusation, ought to have excited their gratitude' 
for the presence and authority of a British force uniformly tended to 
secure the lives of all who were defenceless, and all who surrendered. It 
almost without exception saved the lives of our enemies ; yet the Ameri- 



282 APPENDIX. 

can government brands us as worse than savages, for fighting by the'^side 
of Indians, and at first threatened our extermination if we did so, 
although they employed all the Indians they could. Many individuals 
have acknowledged their obligation to us for having been saved by the 
benevolent and humane exertions of our officers and troops ; but no officer 
of rank ever had the justice to make a public acknowledgment. The 
eighth accusation is much the same as this, and must have been separated 
in order to multiply the number of articles. It is notorious that some 
British soldiers have been killed by the Indians, protecting their prisoners. 
This was the case at General Winchester's defeat, and at General Clay's. 
The grossest exaggerations have been published. General Winchester 
was declared in all the American papers to have been scalped, and 
mangled in the most horrid manner, when he was in his quarters at 
Quebec. In a General Order, dated Kingston, 26th July, 1813, among 
other things respecting Indians, it is said, that the head-money for the 
prisoners of war brought in by the Indian warriors, is to be immediately 
paid by the Commissariat, upon the certificate of the general officer com- 
manding the division with which they are acting at the time. Let us now 
see how the poor Indians are treated by the Americans, after promising 
that tliey have done their utmost to employ as many Indians as possible 
against us. It is a fact that the first scalp taken this war was by the 
Americans, at the river Canard, between Sandwich and Amherstburgh. 
At this place an Indian was killed, by the advance of General Hull's 
army, and immediately scalped.^ 

At the skirmish of Brownston, several Indians fell, and were scalped by 
the American troops. 

The Kentuckians were commonly armed with a tpmahawk and long 
scalping-knife ; and burned Indians as a pastime. 

At the river Au Ilaisin, Captain Caldwell, of the Indian department, 
saved an American officer from^ the Indians, and, as he was leading him 



•Aa Indian never scalps his enemy until after ho is dead, and does so to 
preserve a proof or token of his victory. 



APPENDIX. 



283 



off, the ungrateful monster stabbed him in the neck, on which he was 
killed by Capt. Caldwell's friends. 

The American troops, under General Winchester, killed an Indian in 
a skirmish near the river Au Eaisin, on the 18th January, 1813, and 
tore him literally to pieces, which so exasperated the Indians, that they 
refused burial to the Americans killed on the 22nd. The Indian hero, 
Tecumseh, after being killed, was literally flayed in part by the Americans, 
and his skin carried off as a trophy. 

Twenty Indian women and children, of the Kickapoo nation, were 
inhumanly put to death by the Americans a short time ago, near Prairie, 
on the Illinois River,- after driving their husbands into a morass, where 
they perished with cold and hunger. Indian towns were burnt as an 
amusement, or common-place practice. All this, however, is nothing, 
compared to the recent massacre of the Creeks. General Coffee, in his 
letter to General Jackson, dated 4th November, 1813, informs him that 
he surrounded the Indian towns at Tullushatches, in the night, with nine 
hundred men ; that, about an hour after sunrise, he was discovered by 
the enemy, who endeavoured, though taken by surprise, to make some 
resistance. In a few minutes the last warrior of them was killed. He 
mentioned the number of warriors seen dead to be 186, and supposes as 
many among the weeds as would make them up two hundred. He con- 
fesses that some of the women and children were killed, owing to the 
warriors mixing with their families. He mentions taking only eighty-four 
prisoners of women and children. Now, it is evident that, in a village 
containing two hundred warriors, there must have been nearly as many 
women and men, perhaps more; and, unquestionably, the number of 
children exceeded the men and women together. What, then, became 
of all these? Neither does General Coffee mention the old men. Such 
things speak for themselves. The poor Indians fought, it appears, with 
bows and arrows, and were able only to kill five Americans. Their situa- 
tion was too remote, for them to receive assistance from the British. 
Their lands were wanted, and they must be exterminated. Since this 
period, the greater part of the nation has been massacred by General 
Jackson, who destroyed them wantonly, in cold blood. There was no 



284 APPENDIX. 

resistance, if we except individual ebullition of despair, when it was found 
that there was no mercy. Jackson mentions, exultingly, that the morning 
after he had destroyed a whole village, sixteen Indians were discovered 
hid under the bank of the river, who were dragged out and murdered* 
Upon these inhuman exploits, President Madison only remarks to Con* 
gress, that the Creeks had received a salutary chastisement, which would 
make a lasting impression upon their fears. The cruelties exercised 
against these wretched nations are without a parallel, except the coldness 
and apathy with which they are glossed over by the President. Such is 
the conduct of the humane government of the United States, which is 
incessantly employed, as they pretend, in civilizing the Indians. But it 
is time to finish this horrid detail. We shall, therefore, conclude with a 
short extract from a letter of the Spanish Governor of East Florida, 
Benigno Garzia, to Mr. Mitchell, Governor of the State of Georgia, to 
show that the policy of the government of the United States, in regard 
to the Indians, is now generally known : 

" The Province of East Florida may be invaded in time of profound 
peace, the planters ruined, and the population of the capital starved, and, 
according to your doctrine, all is fair ; they are a set of outlaws if they 
resist. The Indians are to be insulted, threatened, and driven from their 
lands ; if they resist, nothing less than extermination is to be their fate." 

7th and 9th. — Pillage and destruction of private property, in the Bay 
of Chesapeake and the neighbouring country, and cruelties exercised at 
Hampton, in Virginia. 

It requires astonishing eflfrontery to make these articles of accusation, 
after the depredations and cruelties committed by the army of the United 
States in the Canadas. 

In the attack upon Crancy Islands, some boats in the service of Great 
Britain ran aground. In this situation they made signals of surrender; 
but the Americans continued to fire upon them from the shore. Many 
of them jumped into the water, and swam towards land ; but they were 
shot as they approached, without mercy. A few days after, Hampton was 
taken, and some depredations were committed by the foreign troops who 
had seen some of their comrades so cruelly massacred : but before any 



APPENDIX. 



285 



material damage was done, they were remanded on board. Several letters 
from Hampton mention the behaviour of the British, while there, as highly 
meritorious, and contradict the vile calumnies of the Democratic print, 
which Mr. Madison copies in his message to Congress. 

This brief account of the conduct of your government and army, since 
the commencement of hostilities (which might have been greatly ex- 
tended), will fill the world with astonishment at the forbearance of Great 
Britain, in suffering so many enormities, and such a determined departure 
from the laws of civilized warfare, to pass so long without signal punish- 
ment. 

Before finishing this letter, permit me, Sir, to remark, that the destrnc- 
tion of the public buildings at Washington entitled the British to your 
gratitude and praise, by affording you a noble opportunity of proving 
your devotion to your country. In former times, when you spoke of the 
magnitude of your services, and the fervour of your patriotism, your 
political enemies were apt to mention your elevated situation, and the 
greatness of your salary. But, by presenting your library a free-will 
offering to the nation, at this moment of uncommon pressure, when the 
Treasury is empty, and every help to the acquisition of knowledge is so 
very necessary to keep the government from sinking, you would have 
astonished the world with one solitary action in your politifial life wor- 
thy of commendation. 

Nor are your obligations to the British army unimportant, though you 
have not aspired to generous praise. An opportunity has been given you 
of disposing of a library at your own price, which, if sold volume by 
volume, would have fetched nothing. You have, no doubt, seen that 
old libraries do not sell well after the death of the proprietors ; and, with 
a lively attention to your own interests, you take advantage of the 

times. 

I am. Sir, 

With due consideration, &c., 

(Signed,) JOHN STEACHAN, D.D., 

Treasurer of the Loyal and Patriotic 
Society of Upper Canada. 
York, 30th January, 1815. 



286 APPENDIX. 



No. 2. 

BATAILLE DE CHATEAUGUAY. 

M. l'Editeur, — II y a cinquante ans que 300 braves donnaient a I'u- 
nivers entier le spectacle d'un des plus beaux faits d'armes dont peut se 
glorifier uotre jeune pays. Sur la frontiere de leur patrie, animus du 
courage chevaleresque que leur avait legue leurs ancetres et marcliant sur 
les pas de leur valeureux chef, De Salaberry, ils repoussent et mettent en 
fuite une armde infiniment sup^rieure quant au nombre et pleine de 
I'orgueil que lui inspirait ses prouesses passdes. Sans doute, Monsieur 
I'dditeur, vousavez d(?ja compris, et levictorieux nom de " Chateauguay" 
est venu involontairement se placer sur vos levres, ce nom rempli d'dmo- 
tions et tout palpitant d'int^ret, mais hdlas ! tomb^ dans I'oubli. Quoi ! un 
demi-siecle est £i peine encore ecoul^, nous possddons encore au milieu 
de nous quelcjues uns de ces anciens v^tdrans qui virent le drapeau 6toi\6 
s'enfuir devant la bravoure toute frangaise de nos " Voltigeurs," et ndan- 
moins la plus belle page de notre histoire est ignoree par une grande 
par tie de la jeunesse canadienne. Cette memorable journde, qui fait pSr 
lir I'assertion mensong^re qui met en doute la bravoure et le courage du 
Canadien-frangais, devrait etre grav<5c dans le coeur de tout bon citoyen, 
etsamdmoire consacr^e par quelque marque publiquc qui la transmettrait 
h. la postdrit(5 la plus reculde. II y a quelques anndes, avec grande pompe, 
on posait la premi(^re pierre d'un monument 6\e\6 au gdndral Brock et d 
son aide-de-camp, le colonel McDonald. Pourquoi le Bas-Canada ne 
feraitril pas ce qu'a fait le Haut ? Pourquoi un monument, tdmoignage 
irrdcusable de notre vdndration, ne s'dleverait-il pas sur la tombe 
du hdros Canadien comme sur cello du Breton ? Est-ce qu'aux plaines 
de Chateauguay ne se rattachent pas d'aussi glorieux souvenirs qu'aux 
" Queenston's Heights?" Oh ! oui, et cependant, sur le champ qui ren- 
ferme les ossements de nos p6res, I'oeil ne rencontre pas memo la simple 
petite croix do bois ii laquelle le fils religicux peut allcr suspcndrc une 
couronnc de lauricr. Qu'on 6\iivc done un marbre k ceux qui defoudireat 



APPENDIX. 



287 



si valllamment noti'e sol contre I'invasion ^rangere, comme a ceux 
tombes pour la defense de nos droits civils et politiques ; ou bien, mieux 
encore, qu'un seul couvre leurs cendres atous, et qu'il dise aux Strangers 
qui visitent le pays qu'arrosent le St. Laurent, I'Ottawa et le Saguenay, 
que les Canadiens-frangais, eux aussi, ont eu dans le pass^ leurs braves 

et leurs martyres. 

Castor. 

Montreal, 15 Janvier 1863. 

P.S. Ci-inclus, vous trouverez, M. I'editeur, le r^cit de I'evenement 
memorable auquel je fais allusion dans la correspondance ci-dessus; j'es- 
pere que vous le publierez, persuade qu'il sera lu avec le plus grand 
plaisir par vos lecteurs. Je fais I'extrait suivant d'un ancien journal. 

3 novembre 1813. 
Comme un detail circonstancie de I'affaire recente sur la riviere de 
Chateauguay pourrait ne pas d^plaire a vos lecteurs, je vous prie d' insu- 
rer dans votre gazette I'tibauche suivante. Quelque diffuse et quelque 
dtfectueuse qu'elle soit, comme description, elle a au moins le merite de 
r exactitude, ayant ete ecrite par un 

T^MOIN OCULAIRE. 

L'arm^e amdricaine stationn^e a Four Corners, sous le g^n^ral Hamp- 
ton, apres avoir si longtemps fixe I'attention de nos troupes, commen§a- 
enfin a s'approcher de nos frontieres, le 21 du mois dernier. Le meme 
jour, vers 4 heures de I'apres-midi, son avant-garde poussa notre piquet 
stationn^ k Piper's Boad, k environ dix lieues de I'eglise de Chateau- 
guay. Aussitot que le major Henry, de la milice de Beauharnais, com- 
mandant a la riviere des Anglais, eut regu avis de I'approche de I'en- 
nemi, il en informa le major De Watteville et fit avancer immediatement 
les capitaines L^vesque et Debartzcb avec les compagnies du flanc du 
5^me bataillon de la milice incorpor^e, et environ deux cents hommes de 
la division de Beauharnais. Cette force s'avanga d'environ deux lieues 
cette nuit-la, et s'arreta a I'entr^e d'un bois au travers duquel il n'aurait 
pas 6t6 prudent de passer. Le lendemain au matin, de bonne heure, ils 



288 APPENDIX. 

furent joints par le lieut.-col. De Salaberry, avec ses Voltigeurs, et la 
compagnie l^gere du capitaine Ferguson, du regiment canadien. Le 
lieut.-colonel De Salaberry remonta ^ pr^s d'une lieue sur la rive gauche 
de la riviere, ^ r autre extr^mitd, et une patrouille de I'ennemi s'dtant 
montrde b. quelque distance, il fit faire halte a sa petite force. Le lieute- 
nant-colonel, qui avait eu I'avantage de reconnaltre tout le pays au-dessus 
de Chateauguay dans une expedition sur la frontiere am^ricaine, quel- 
ques semaines auparavant, savait que le bord de la riviere ne pouvait 
fournir une meilleure position. Le bois ^tait rempli de ravines profon- 
des, sur quatre desquelles il dtablit quatre lignes de defense, I'une apres 
I'autre. Les premieres lignes ^talent distantes I'une de I'autre d'environ 
deux cents pas ; la quatrieme ^tait a peu pres un demi-mille en arri^re, 
et commandait sur la rive droite de la riviere un gu^ qu'il etait tr6s-impor- 
tant de d^fendre, afin de prot^ger la rive gauche. II fit faire sur cha- 
cune des ces lignes une espece de parapet qui s'dtendait ^ quelque dis- 
tance dans le bois, pour garantir sa droite. Le parapet sur la premiere 
ligne formait un angle obtus a la droite du chcmin, et s'(jtendait le long 
des detours du foss^. Toute cette premiere journ^e fut employee a forti. 
fier cette position, qui, quant i la force, ne le c^de a pas une de celles 
qu'on aurait pu choisir. EUe avait aussi I'avantage de forcer I'ennemi, 
s'il etait dispose a attaquer, de traverser une grande etendue de terrain 
inhabite et de s'eioigner de ses ressources, tandis qu'au contraire nos 
troupes avaient tout i souhait et etaient bien soutenues ^ I'arridre. 

La rive droite de la riviere etait couverte d'un bois epais, et Ton eut 
aussi soin de se mcttre en garde aupr^s du gue, et Ton posta en avant de 
I'autre un piquet de soixante hommes de la milice de Beauharnais. 

Le lieutenantrcolonel ne borna pas son attention aux ouvrages ci-dessus. 
Pour assurer sa protection davantage, il ordonna il un parti de trente 
bftcberons, de la division de Beauharnais, d'allcr en avant de la premiere 
ligne, afin de detruire les ponts, et de faire des abatis. En consequence, 
touB les ponts furent detruits dans I'espace d'une lieue et demie, et il fut 
fait un abatis formidable ii, environ un millc en avant de la premiere 
ligne, s'etcndantdu bord de la riviere i\ trois ou quatre arpcnts dans le 
bois, ou il joignait, sur la droite, uno tcrre marccageuse, ou savanne, par 



APPENDIX. 289 

laquelle il etait presque impossible de passer. Les quatre lignes ^taient 
ainsi eompletement a couvert. On savait bien que rennemi avait una 
dixaine de canons, et il lui devenait impossible de les amener. 

C'est a la force de la position clioisie et fortifiije de la sorte, ainsi qu'ti 
I'h^roisme de notre petite arm^e, que nous devons la victoire brillante qui 
a ete obtenue. Les talents et I'habilete d'un oflScier commandant ne se 
distinguent pas moins sans doute dans le choix de son terrain avant la 
bataille, que dans la disposition de ses troupes au fort de la mel^e, et Ton 
ne fera que rendre justice au lieutenant-colonel De Salaberry en disant que 
lui seul doit ^tre loud de V arrangement admirable itabli pour la defense 
de son posts. 

Apres que le colonel De Salaberry eut fait ces dispositions judicieuses, 
le major-gdndral De Watteville vint voir son camp, et lui fit I'lionneur 
d'approuver tout ce qu'il avait fait, 

Quoique les abatis eussent dte achevds le second, on tint continuellement 
en cet endroit des partis de travailleurs, afin de le rendre encore plus for- 
midable ; on envoya des troupes en avant pour les proteger, et il y avait 
toujours en outre a I'arri^re un piquet nombreux. Le 29 du mois passe, 
vers dix heures du matin, une avant-garde de I'ennemi vint h portee dc 
mousquet de I'abatis. Le lieutenant Guy, des Voltigeurs, qui dtait en 
front avec une vingtaine de ses hommes, fat contraint de reculer apres 
avoir dchangd quelques coups de fusils, et fut soutenu par le lieutenant 
Johnson, du m^me corps, qui commandait le piquet a I'arriere des travail- 
leurs, qui se virent dans la ndcessitd de retraiter et ne se remirent pas a 
I'ouvrage de tout le jour. 

Des que le lieutenant-colonel De Salaberry eut entendu le feu, il partit 
du front de la premiere ligne. II prit avec lui trois compagnies du capi- 
taine Ferguson, du regiment canadien, qu'il deploya a la droite et a I'avant 
de I'abatis; celle du capitaine J. B. Duchesnay, a qui il ordonna d'occuper 
la gauche, en s'dtendant en meme temps du c6t6 de la riviere, et celle du 
capitaine Juchereau Duchesnay qui, avec environ 50 ou 60 miliciens de 
Beauharnais, fut placde derriere, en potence, h, la gauche de I'abatis, de 
maniere a pouvoir prendre I'ennemi en flanc, s'il avan§ait centre la milice 
de Beauharnais, sur la rive droite de la riviere. J'oubliais de dire qu'il 

T 



290 APPENDIX. 

y avait environ" une vingtaine de sauvages avec les hommes de la com- 
pagnie du capitaine Ferguson sur la droite. Le lieutenant-colonel se 
pla§a au centre de la ligne du front. II voyait alors devant lui un ennemi 
avec lequel il s'^tait deux fois eflForce d'en venir aux prises depuis le com- 
mencement de cette campagne ; I'occasion tant desiree se presentait, et 
I'^venement a montrd comment il a su en profiter. Entre I'abatis et al 
premiere ligne ^taient plac^es la companie de Voltigeurs du capitaine 
Eeuyer et la compagnie Idgdre du capitaine Debartzch, du 5me bataillon • 
de la milice incorporee, ayant leurs piquets de flanc sur la droite. Un 
gros corps de sauvages, sous le capitaine Lamothe, <?tait repandu dans le 
bois, a la droite du capitaine Debar tzcb. Le lieutenant-colonel McDonell, 
de I'infanterie Idgere de Glengarry, se transporta, avec une partie de sa 
brigade Idgere, de la 3me et 4me lignes a la Ire et la 2me. Tous ces 
mouvements se firent avec une grande rapiditd. 

Sur ces entrefaites, I'ennemi commenga a se former dans une grande 
plaine qui aboutissait presque a une pointe en front de I'abatis. Le gene- 
ral Hampton commandait en personne sur la rive gauche de la riviere ; 
il avait avec lui le lOme, le 31me et autres regiments, faisant enviren 
trois mille ou trois mille cinq cents hommes, avec trois escadrons de cavala- 
rie et quatre pieces d'artillerie. Ndanmoins, I'artillerie ne fut pas employee 
dans Taction. Un gros parti de I'ennemi, se montant a environ quinze 
cents hommes, penetra a travers les bois sur la rive droite de la riviere ; 
il dtait compost du 4me, 33me, 35me, et des bataillons de Chasseurs volon- 
taires. Le reste de I'armde amdricaine se formait derriore la force qui 
etait sur la rive gauche. 

Peu apres que le colonel De Salaberry cut fait les dispositions, commc 
on a deja dit, une forte colonnc d'infanterie s'avanga par la plaine au 
devant dc la, et le colonel, voyant que cette colonne s'etait cxposee aetrc 
prise en front et en flanc, avantage qu'il avait attendu quclquc temps, il 
tira le premier, et Ton s'apcrgut que son feu avait jete bas un officier a 
cbeval ; c'etaitun bon augurc. Alors il ordonua au trompette de sonner 
la charge, et aussitOt les compagnies du front firent un feu vif et bien 
dirige qui arrCta quclqucs minutes la marche de I'dinemi. II demcura 
quelque temps en repos, puis, faisant un tour i\ gauche, il se forma en 



APPENDIX. 291 

ligne, et dans cette position, lacha plusieurs voldes. N^anmolns, par ce 
mouvement, le feu de la gauche de sa ligne porta entierement sur la par- 
tie du bois qui n'^tait pas occup^e par nos troupes ; mais le feu de sa 
droite fut assez fort pour obliger nos piquets a venir chercher vin abri 
derriere I'abatis. L'ennemi prit ce mouvement pour le commencement 
d'une retraite, et fut bicn tromp^, car il ne put s'emparer d'un pouce de 
I'abatis. Les huzzas retentissaient d'un bout a I'autre de son arm^e : 
mais nous ne lui cddames pas meme dans le combat de cris ; nos compa- 
gnies du front crierent a leur tour, et les huzzas furent r^pet^s parcelles 
de la queue, et ensuite par les troupes de la premiere ligne, qui fit jouer les 
trompettes dans toutes les directions pour porter l'ennemi a croire que 
nous dtions en plus grand nombre. Cette ruse de guerre eut I'effet desire,' 
car nous avons ensuite appris des prisonniers qu'ils estimaient notre- 
force a 6 ou 7000 hommes. Apres ces clameurs mutuelles, on tira pen- 
dant quelques voltes de part et d'autre. L'ennemi n'essaya pas line 
fois de pen^trer dans I'abatis. II continua cependant son feu, qui fut 
rendu a propos, particulierement par ceux de la gauche. Peu apres, 
il commenya a se ralentir, comme si I'attention de l'ennemi eut ^te dirig^e 
de I'autre cot^ de la riviere. La les trompettes, qui etaient au front, 
donnerent le signal d'avancer, en consequence de quelques manoeuvres, et 
le lieutenant-colonel McDonell, curieux d'ajouter de nouveaux lauriers a 
ceux qu'il avait deja cueillis k Ogdensburgh, vint de la premiere et 
seconde ligne avec la compagnie du capitaine L^vesque, comme je crois, 
et une autre. 

Vers la fin de I'engagement sur la rive gauche, l'ennemi qui, sur la 
droite, avait fait reculer les miliciens de Beauharnais, comraen^a sur notre 
gauche un feu vif, qui lui fut rendu par la gauche de la compagnie du 
capt. J. B. Duchesnay et la droite de celle du capitaine Juchereau Du- 
chesnay. Alors le lieutenant-colonel De Salaberry ordonna au lieutenant- 
colonel McDonell, qui avait repris sa position, d'empecher l'ennemi^ 
d'avancer. Le capitaine Daly, qui fut choisi pour ce service, traversa au 
o-ue, emmena avec lui les restes de la milice sedentaire de I'autre CQt^, et 
s'avanga avec rapidite le long de la riviere. 

Le feu de l'ennemi ayant presque cess^ k I'abatis, et le lieutenant- 



292 APPENDIX. 

colonel De Salaberry voyant que I'action allait deyenir g^riense sui** la 
clroite, laissa sa situation au centre du front et se plaga sur la gauche 
avecles troupes jetees derriere en potence. La, il monta sur un gros 
tronc d'arbre, et quoique tres-expose au feu de renuemi, I'examina de 
sang-froid avec la longue-vue. Alors, il donna ses ordres en frangais au 
capitaine Daly, et lui enjoignit de repondre dans la meme langue, afin 
de n'etre pas entendu de I'ennemi. Le capitaine Daly poussa vaillam- 
ment les ennemis devant lui pendant quelque temps j mais, se ralliant sur 
leurs troupes de derriere, qui etaient presque en ligne avec la force sur 
la rive gauche, ils attendirent son approche et le re§urent avec un feu bien 
entretenu. II fut blessd des I'abord ; nonobstant sa blessure, il continua 
de pousser en avant avec sa conipagnie, et dans le temps qu'il encoura- 
geait ses hommes, et par ses paroles et par son exemple, il fut blessed' 
pour la seconde fois et tomba. Le capitaine Bruyere, de la niilice de 
Beauharnais, fut aussi blessd dans le menie temps, mais k'gerement. 
Leurs hommes, n'etant plus en etat de resister a une force si superi- 
eure, furent contraints de reculer, ce qui se fit dans une fort bon ordre, 
sous le commandement du lieutenant Schiller ; et Ton entendit, encore 
une fois, les cris joyeux des ennemis, mais leur joie fut celle d'uu mo- 
ment ; car ils ne furent pas plutot arrives vis-a-vis de la potence, que, 
par I'ordre du lieutenant-colonel De Salaberry, les troupes qui se trou- 
vaieut la firent sur eux un feu vif et bien dirige, qui les arreta tout-a-coup 
dans leur marche bardie et les mit dans la plus grande confusion. Vaine- 
ment tilcherent-ils de rdsister; ils se disperserent et retraiterent avec 
prdcipitation. II etait alors environ deux heures et demie de I'apres-midi ; 
et le g^n^ral Hampton, voyant que ses troupes sur la rive droite nc reus- 
sissaient pas mieux que ccUes de la rive gauche, ordonna a ces dernieres 
de retraiter, apres Gtre demeurees inuctives pendant pres d'une heure, 
bien qu'elles fussent assaillics de temps a autre par nos escarmoucheurs, 
qui I'taicnt parfaltemcnt a couvcrt dans I'abatis. Nos troupes resterent 
dans leur position et couchercnt, cette nuit-la, sur le terrain qu'elles avaient 
occupe durant la journee. Le lendcmain, au point du jour, ellcs furent 
renfnrcees par la conipagnie do Voltigcurs du capitaine llouville et' la com- 
pagnie de grenadiers du capitaine Levesquc, du 5me bataillon do la milice 



APPENDIX. 293 

incorporee, et de soixante homines de la division de Beauharnais, le tout 
sous le commandement du lieutenant-colonel McDonell. Ce fut i\ cat 
officier distingue que le lieutenant-colonel De Salaberry confia le soin de 
la defense de I'abatis. On poussa des piquets a deux milles plus avant 
qu'on avait encore fait; la journee se passa dans I'attente d'une seconde 
attaque, mais nul ennemi ne se montra. Ses piquets dtaient postes de 
telle sorte qu'une vingtaine d'hommes tomberent entre nos mains sur la 
rive droite de la riviere. On trouva aussi, sur cette meme rive, ixne grande 
quantite de fusils, de tambours, de havresacs, de provisions, etc. Tout 
indiquait fortement dans quel ddsordre I'ennemi avait 6t6 jete et avait 
effectue sa retraite. Nos troupes enterrerent plus de 40 de leurs gens, 
outre ceux qu'ils enterrerent eux-memes, et parmi lesquels se trouvaient 
deux ou trois officiers de distinction. On trouva deux chevaux morts sur 
la rive gauche, et I'ennemi emmena dans des charriots plusieurs de ses 
blesses de ce cot^ de la riviere. 

Le 28 au matin, le capitaine Lamothe, avec environ 150 sauvages, alia 
reconnaitre I'ennemi, qui, suivant le rapport du colonel Hughes, des 
ingenieurs, avait abandonne son camp le jour pr^c^dent. Un parti des 
miliciens de Beauharnais, soutenu par le capitaine Debartzch, brula 
et detruisit les ponts nouvellement friges a un mille de I'ennemi, qui 
avait transporte son camp a environ une demi-lieue de Piper's Road, 
c'est-a-dire a environ deux lieues de sa premiere position. Le capitaine 
Lamothe pdnetra dans le bois avec ses sauvages, et malgre I'inferiorit^ 
de sa force, cet officier actif et zel^ engagea un combat parti el avec I'en- 
nemi, qui eut un homme tue et sept blesses. 

Le 30, un parti de chasseurs sauvages, sous le capitaine Ducharme, 
donna avis que I'ennemi avait, le 29, abandonne son camp aPipci''s Road 
dans le plus grand ddsordre, et etait sur le chemin des Quatre-Fourches. 

Ici finit I'expedition du general Hampton contre le Bas-Canada. Je 
me suis (3tendu dans la description de la scene du combat, de la position 
et des mouvements des troupes engagees, sans craindre de lasser la pa- 
tience du lecteur, Sur un tel sujet, I'attente empressee d'un public ca- 
nadien recherchera naturellement avec anxi^t^ toute espece d'information, 
et dans un d^meld aussi difficile et aussi memorable, il n'est pas 



294 APPENDIX. 

de circonstance, quelque petite qu'elle soil, qui n'ait son interet par- 
ticulier. 

D'apres toutes les informations qu'on a pu tirer des prisonniers, il 
parait que I'intention de I'ennemi ^tait de s'avancer par la riviere de 
Chateauguay jusqu'aux bords du St. Laurent, pour y attendre la co-ope- 
ration du g^n^ral Wilkinson, qui devait prendre Kingston dans sa route 
en descendant ; 

" Husticus expectat dum dejluat amnis.'^ 

On a aussi appris des prisonniers que la force de I'ennemi se montait a 
7,000 hommes d'infanterie, 400 de cavalerie et 10 oul2 pieces de canon. 
Le lecteur 6\oign6 ou imbu de pr(5jug(5s ne croira peut-ctre pas que toute 
la force engag^e de notre cotd n'excedait pas 300 liommes ; mais c'est le 
fait ; nous I'affirmons sans crainte d'etre contredit. Le reste de notre 
arm^e 6ia{t en reserve par derriere. 

II est tout-a-fait flatteur de pouvoir ajouter que ces trois cents hommes 
et leur brave commandant etaient tons Canadiens, al'exception du brave 
capitaine Ferguson, de trois hommes de sa compagnie et de trois offi- 
ciers appartenant a d'autres corps. Qu'on le disc toutes les fois qu'on 
fera mention de la bataille de Chateauguay, et il faudra que le prdjug^ 
cache sa tete hideuse et que les muruiures de la malveillance soient 
etouff(^s par la honte et la confusion. 

Les officiers et soldats engages dans cette journde memorable se sont 
tous converts de gloire. Le capitaine Ferguson, de I'infantcrie ldg6re du 
regiment canadien, et les deux capitaines Duchesnay se sont grandcment 
distinguds dans le commandement de leurs compagnies respeetives et en 
executant plusieurs mouvements difficiles avec autant de sang-froid et de 
precision qu'en un jour de parade. La bravoure du capitaine Daly, de 
la brigade dc fianc de la milice, qui conduisit, a la Idtre, sa compagnie au 
milieu des cnnemis, ne pouvait Gtre surpassce. On n'a pas moins 
remarque, dans cc combat s(jv(^re, le courage et la bravoure du capitaine 
Lamothc, du dopartcment des sauvages, du lieutenant Pinguet, de 
I'infantcrie Icgi^rc canadiennc, du lieutenant et adjudant Ilcbben, des 
Voltigeurs, du lieutenant Schiller, de la compagnie du capitaine Daly. 



APPENDIX. 295 

Les lieutenants Guy et Johnson, des Yoltigeurs, formerent leurs piquets 
sur la ligne de d(jfense, apres qu'ils se furent retires, et se conduisirent 
avec une grande bravoure durant tout I'engagement. Le capitaine 
Ecuyer, des Voltigeurs, et le lieut. Powell, de la compagnie du capi- 
taine L^vesque, se sont fait beaucoup d'honneur par leurs efforts pour 
s' assurer des prisonniers dans les bois, en s'exposant aun p^ril imminent. 
Les capitaines Longtin et Huneau, de la milice de Beauharnais, se sont 
fait remarquer par leur bonne conduite ; le premier se mit a genoux au 
commencement de Taction, fit une courte priere avec ses hommes, et 
leur dit, en se relevant, q^iCa pHsent qu'ils avaient rempli leur devoir 
envers leur Dieu, ils faisaient leur devoir jyour leur Roi, Louis Lan- 
glade, Noel Annance et Barlet Lyons, du d^partement des sauvages, 
etaient dans Taction du 26 et Taffaire du 28. Leur conduite a ^t^ re- 
marquable durant tout ce temps. 

Je ne passerai pas sous silence les noms des soldats Vincent, Pelletier, 
Vervais, Dubois et Caron, des Voltigeurs, dont quelques-uns travers^rent 
la riviere k la nage, et firent prisonniers ceux qui refusaient de se rendre. 

A Tegard du lieutenant-colonel De Salaberry, le plus dgoiste doit avouer 
que ses services importants le rendent digne des remerciments et de la 
reconnaissance de sa patrie. 

On ne salt ce qu'on doit admirer d'avantage, ou son courage personnel 
comme individu, ou son babilet^ et ses talents comme commandant. 
Nous le voyons, longtemps avant le combat, montrer le plus profond 
jugement dans le choix de sa position et la fortifier ensuite par tons les 
moyens que lui suggerent sa sagacity. Nous le voyons, au fort de Taction, 
embrasser tout par des vues grandes et ^tendues, defendant chaque point, 
et pourvoyant a tout accident. Mais son mtirite et celui de sa petite 
arm^e devient encore plus ^clatant quand nous refl^chissons a T^tat cri- 
tique des temps, imm^diatement avant cette brillante victoire. Les 
affaires paraissaient d^sesp^r^es dans le Haut-Canada ; le decouragement 
commengait a faire sentir ses tristes effets ; on nous avait meme dit, sous 
haute autorite, " que tres-probablement, le moment approchait ou il 
" serait finalement d^tormind si Tattente presomptueuse de Tennemi 
" devait §tre r^alisde par Tinvasion et la conquete de cette province, ou 



296 



APPENDIX. 



'' s'il ne devait trouver que la ddfaite dans son entreprise." Ce moment 
est pass^: les amis de leur pays se le rappeleront avec reconnaissance; 
I'aspect des affaires est change. L'ennemi, pour nous servir d'une phrase 
a la mode, a bien " pollu^ notre sol," mais il a 4t6 reponssd par un com- 
mandant Canadien, H la tete d'une troupe de Canadiens qui ne se montait 
pas a la vingti^me partie de la force qui leur etait oppose'e. 



^- * ^' 





o 


'*' o • 


f^ » 




"^ 






I ' \ 


;:% °. 










>► 


v-^"^ 






o 


V 








•^<^. 


kP 


V • ,^ 


M 


M 







v-. 




1° <^<\- 









-^^"^ .'^.V V 



0^ 



'bv" 



.0^ .■ 



-^^0^ 



:« 






^°--^. 






"^, 







.0 



^- «. . ... - - 



w\^ 










^9- 






A 



-^^ 



i^:^ ^^'^, '^!^R' y^o ^^^^ .^% ^^P^^ 



■<i>. 



^0^ \-^-,'^' ^--'^^-.^P \-^"-\/ 



%/' ySS£' \.-^'' ' 



c ° " " -t ■<*>. 



-5^ -iy' 









^ ^^ .,. "V ' 



,-JV^ •' 






o 

o 



'bV^ 



0' 



o ''^^1^. 



^ • ■ 






o 
^0 ■ 



« o - ,0' 



S" -J?.- 









\\' 






<> 






WiWS . '^ "^ ^^^'is^/ ^' "^ ^vi^v" 'V^'' 






Oy ° " " * <^^ . ' ' • * O \'i^ c ^ " = ■. <*K 



visjo- 



o « o • ^0' 



- '^CtA/ -•^, 



'^^ <^.^ 






VV..'., 



^^-n. 









'■c- '■" ,*" ...... *-> ■■'■ 



<^ 






^^ / 



.\^ 



.^ 



"^^., 










^^ 


0^ 




.-' 


°^ 






o 




.^r . 






^^= ,Ovv -^^ 







-5^ 



C" . 




C" / 



n^-n^ 



.V 






'' rlPi: ^^^ 



^«f^ 





, s 






o\.' 



c 



o 



x^r^ 



^. 



-1 o^ 



,C '-.^Vrn^/V,-^ J 




le> 



N MANCHESTER 



^•^t^^ %/ ::^^ %-/ :^^ %/ 



